What Cannot Be Broken
by Ari Moriarty
Summary: Three years after the defeat of Nyx, Minako Arisato revives in the Velvet Room. A stranger's soul has taken her place as the great seal, and she is free to return to her life. Someone else, however, had to make a sacrifice in order for her to live, and his friends aren't willing to let him slip away so easily. What does it mean to have the right to live?
1. Prologue - Three Years Later

**Author's Note:**

This story uses characters and situations taken from the Persona 3 Portable Female Protagonist storyline, as well as Persona 4 The Golden. For that reason, some stuff in here doesn't quite fit with the storyline and characters of the male protagonist in Persona 3, or with FES. Maybe I'll write one from that perspective next.

I'm very new to fanfiction, and I'm trying it out as a lark, so please, do review and comment to let me know if you like what I'm writing! There's no other way for me to know if I'm doing it right…

Okay, I think that's everything. This'll be fun, right? Sure it will.

Sincerely,

Ari

**Prologue**

**Winter vacation in Inaba – One year after the defeat of Ameno-sagiri, Three years after the defeat of Nyx**

Snow had started to fall outside the windows of the Dojima residence. Nanako stared out at it for a few minutes, eyes wide with delight as she imagined just how many snow men and snow teddies she could possibly fit into the front yard. Then she ran as fast as she could over to the room where her cousin Yu was staying for the winter holidays.

"Big bro! Big bro, it's snowing! Come and see!" She tried valiantly not to bounce up and down outside his door as she waited for him to open it. That was something a seven year old girl might do. Eight year old girls were dignified. They did not bounce up and down…at least, not much.

Strangely enough, Yu didn't open the door. "Um, big bro? Helloooo! Come out, it's the first snow of the year!"

A second quick glance at the window showed Nanako that it was dark outside. Belatedly, she had an idea. "Oh, are you asleep?" Well, she thought, probably not anymore… "Um, I'm sorry…I didn't mean to wake you…I mean…it's really pretty outside! Tomorrow we can play in it!"

Still, there was no response from the bedroom. Nanako frowned. Something wasn't right. "Hey, Big bro? Are you in there?"

It wasn't the polite thing to do. It wasn't, honestly, something that Nanak normally would have let herself do. Still, something didn't feel right, and she let herself do the impulsive thing and pushed the door just slightly open, peering around it into the room.

Yu was stretched out on the bed, still wearing his school uniform. His eyes were closed, and he looked as though hd' been asleep for hours. Nanako knew she should leave, but something just looked…wrong. He was so quiet, so still. When her father slept, his chest bounced up and down, and he made little snorking noises when he breathed. Yu wasn't doing anything like that. He was just…lying there.

All of a sudden, Nanako didn't feel well. Something bad was happening, and she didn't want to be alone in that room with her cousin anymore. "Help, dad!" The words came out louder than she'd meant it to. From the bottom of the stairs, she heard Dojima jump to his feet.

"Nanako? What's wrong?"

Ryotaro Dojima was used to emergencies, and he was standing next to her in a matter of moments, staring down at Yu's unmoving form on the bed. Carefully, he reached out and touched a hand to Yu's forehead, then to skin on the boys' throat. "No pulse," he muttered. "Nanako, he's not breathing. We need to call an ambulance."

"What? He's not breathing?" Nanako reached out and shook Yu by the arm. "Hey, Big Bro! Wake up! Please, wake up!"

"An ambulance, Nanako." Dojima's voice was harsh. Frightened, Nanako turned around a made a dash for the phone. Just before she left the room, she turned back for one more look at Yu's face. It was awful, she thought, her feet pounding down the steps two at a time towards the kitchen. His face hadn't looked like anything. It just had this terrible, blank, vague look on it, like he'd been cut off before he'd had a chance to think about anything. It was the scariest thing she'd ever seen, and for Nanako Dojima, that was saying a lot.

**The Velvet Room – The same evening**

"Welcome…to the velvet room."

Minako Arisato opened her eyes. She blinked. She breathed. She tried it again. It still worked. Wait, what? What was going on?

"Ah, our valued guest. What a pleasure to see you again after such a long absence."

Slowly, Minako focused on the figure in front of her. He certainly wasn't much to look at. Hunched over, with a long, pointy nose and a maniacal sort of glint in his big, bulging eyes, he wasn't exactly the sort of sight that most girls would want to wake up to.

Minako, on the other hand, was happy to see anyone at the moment. Igor would be able to tell her what was happening. Igor always knew what was happening, usually before anyone else did. It was creepy. Helpful, but very creepy.

"Um," she said.

"You must be somewhat disoriented after your deep sleep," said Igor.

"Um, yes." Minako's head did feel a little fuzzy. "How did I-?"

"What," asked Igor, interrupting her smoothly, "do you remember?"

Good question, thought Minako. She thought about it for a moment. It took several long seconds for the bleariness in her mind to clear away, before she realized.

"Oh," she said. "I think…I think that I'm dead."

Igor chuckled that alarmingly creepy chuckle of his. "Well done," he murmured. "Yes, in a manner of speaking, you are…dead. Or at least, you were. It seems that you have been granted a temporary reprieve. Your soul is free to return to the world…for a time."

There are reprieves from death? Like…resuscitation? None of this was making sense. Minako took a deep breath, something that she still wasn't sure she should even be able to do, and tried to relax. There was something else going on here, something she couldn't quite focus on. Something was nagging at the back of her mind, a memory that would help clear everything up. What was it she couldn't remember?

Then, slowly, it all came swimming back to her in gentle little waves of memory. The people she'd met, the friends she'd made, the contract she'd agreed to without even realizing what it was she'd gotten into the first place. She remembered the end, the final stand, the way she'd never have survived without the love of the people around her, and then…the sacrifice. She remembered her mission, her curse, the duty of the great seal. But then, if she'd been granted, as Igor had put it, "a reprieve," then what had become of the seal? What would become of the world, of the people she'd essentially died to protect?

As if he'd read her thoughts, which she wasn't altogether sure he hadn't, Igor spoke up. "There has been…a new arrangement. Another soul has taken your place as the seal."

"Who? Whose soul?" Minako was alarmed. Had one of her friends found a way to sacrifice themselves to try and bring her back? That wasn't supposed to even be possible, how could someone have-

"There seems to have been a mistake." Igor, for once, sounded almost worried. "Something has changed in the flow of your fate and the future is uncertain. I…do not understand."

"You said this was temporary," said Minako, hearkening back to one of the first things he'd said when she'd woken up. "A 'temporary reprieve.' Am I going to die again?"

Igor shrugged. The gesture looked ridiculous on him, but for some reason it definitely wasn't funny. "I eagerly await to see what fate now has in store for you. Your choices, as always, will determine what path lies open to your future."

A few moments of silence elapsed before Minako asked, "So, what do I do now?"

"Now, you will wake up, in your world." Even as he spoke, Igor's face began to fade blurrily away from view, and Minako felt her eyelids getting heavy. "Don't worry. I'm sure we'll meet again when you feel the time is right."

Unfortunately, he's probably right, thought Minako, as Igor and the Velvet Room faded into black. He sort of made a habit of being right. Again, it was creepy.


	2. Chapter One

**Author's Note: **Wow! Thanks to everyone who is reading/following/reviewing/favoriting the story already! You guys are fantastic! Hmm, "favoriting" isn't really a word…can I say that anyway? In any case, thanks so much!

**Chapter One**

When Minako awoke again, she was lying on the ground next to a rapidly departing train. Signs above her head read "Yasoinaba Station." People who had just gotten off the train were walking by, and had begun to stare at her and point. She quickly got to her feet and moved away from the train, dusting herself off as she went.

Minako had done a fair share of traveling, shunted from place to place after her parents had passed away. She was sure she'd been to Inaba before, in fact, not too long ago. Once she thought about it, she realized that Inaba was the place where she'd had her last school retreat with the women's sports teams. The volleyball and tennis teams had both gone, to stay at a beautiful place called the Amagi Inn. Idly, she wondered if the Amagi Inn served any food that she could afford. Come to think of it, did she have any money?

Minako looked down at herself, and was only slightly surprised to see that she was wearing her Gekkoukan High school uniform. At least whatever almighty powers were steering her fate had been kind enough to grant her the winter version. Otherwise she'd be freezing. As it was, the skirt was pretty short, and short skirts, though cute in any weather, were definitely more decorative than useful.

So, she reflected, she was without any money or any place to go, dressed in an out-of-town high school uniform that would stand out like a sore thumb in any crowd, and was at a loss for what to do next. This was going to be an interesting day. What she wouldn't give, she thought, for just one friendly face.

Then, just like that, she saw him, striding through the center of the crowd on the platform. Junpei Iori looked different than he had the last time she'd seen him. There was unshaven stubble on his chin, and dark circles under his eyes. He looked older and a lot more serious than he'd ever been when she'd met him in the high school hallways. Even so, Minako didn't doubt for a moment that it was him. He had the same confident swagger, the same hint of a leftover smile on his face. "Junpei!" calling out to him, she pushed forward through the crowd until she could catch his eye. "Hey, Junpei, wait for me!"

He looked up at her in surprise, and his eyes went momentarily wide as he stared, mouth hanging open, into her face. "Holy shit…" he muttered, and seemed to be about to say something else, but then shook his head.. "Nah, sorry…I mean, sorry to stare like that. You just look a lot like somebody I knew a long time ago, I guess. Yeah. Jeez. Um." He laughed. "I guess I must sound pretty weird, huh? Anyway. How do you know my name? Do I know you?"

"Yes. You do." Minako took a deep breath. She'd forgotten, for a moment, that Junpei wouldn't be expecting to see her. After all, she was dead. Sort of. She had been dead. That was going to be a hard subject to broach. "Just…don't freak out," she said.

"Why would I freak out?" Junpei was grinning, the same old gung-ho grin that he'd always used to cheer them all up when they'd been lost in dark, mysterious towers trying to fight off the end of the world. Minako bathed in it. She felt better already.

"Okay," she said. "It's me, Minako. Minako Arisato. We're in high school together. Or maybe we were. Hey, hold on, you said you wouldn't freak out!"

She added this last part because, as soon as she'd said her name, something strange had happened to Junpei. He wasn't grinning anymore, but he didn't look shocked or amazed, either. Instead, he looked angry. A furious light came into his eyes, and he clenched his fists and shoved them into his pockets, turning his eyes away from her.

"That's not funny, man," he muttered. "That's kinda sick. Who the hell are you? How'd you even know about Minako? Dude, what kind of person plays a trick like this one, anyway? It's been three years, I want to forget about it. I just…I want to forget, so get lost. Leave me alone, okay? I'm not gonna play this game."

Three years? Minako swallowed hard. That was a lot of time. No wonder he looked so much older. And she, of course, still in her school uniform, probably didn't look like she'd aged a day. Maybe she hadn't. It sure hadn't felt like any time had passed, but then again, it hadn't felt like…anything. Is that what death was, really? Just…a lot of nothing at all? Or was that just her death, or rather, her rebirth as the great seal?

"Junpei," Minako said again, "please, look at me. I'm not joking. You're right, nobody would play a trick like this, so obviously this isn't a trick."

"I'm getting out of here," said Junpei, and he made to move away from her. Impulsively, Minako grabbed his arm. Junpei looked as though he was going to hit her, but she held on tight anyway, and forced him to look at her.

"I know that there is no way this makes sense right now," she insisted. "I don't understand it any more than you do, but please. I'm lost, and I'm confused…I need you to believe me. To believe in me. You always believed in me, right? I rely on you, I trust you. That's how we defeated Nyx, how we stopped the end of the world! Please, Junpei. I need you."

Junpei stopped trying to struggle way from her and stared, the anger fading from his eyes. "There's no way you could know all that, about all that stuff," he muttered, "unless…"

"Yeah," said Minako. "Unless I'm really me. So…"

"Mina-tan?" He sounded more frightened than anything else, as he reached out and, very hesitantly, touched his fingers to Minako's forehead, then to her cheek. "No way…you're dead. I was there when you died. It was awful. It was the worst thing…" his voice trailed off, and he swallowed hard. "You were cold. We tried waking you up, but you wouldn't open your eyes. We tried everything. You're dead. I know you're dead."

"Apparently not anymore." Minako shrugged.

Junpei took Minako to the parking lot, and drove her back to his home through the winding country roads of Inaba. He lived in a quiet neighborhood full of nosy old men who all seemed to be peeking their heads of doors and windows when Junpei helped Minako out of the car.

Great, she thought to herself. Just what he probably needs right now, a bunch of old neighbors gossiping about how he brought an underage girl back to his place.

They went inside and he made her a cup of coffee and gave her a seat on the sofa in front of the television. Television seemed to be a big thing here in Inaba. She could hear the television of the guy next door blaring through the thin walls.

Junpei was moving jerkily, like he was acting on some sort of internal autopilot.

"You know," said Minako, forcing a smile, "you'd think after three years you'd be a little happier to see me."

"You don't get it," said Junpei. "I don't believe this is happening. I'm going to wake up any second and realize that I'm having some sort of twisted guilt dream that I won't be able to shake for the rest of the day. That happens. A lot."

"You dream about me?" Minako tried to sound flirty, hoping to make him laugh and shake him out of his stupor.

Junpei didn't laugh. Instead, he shuddered. "Yeah," he said. "All the time. I keep dreaming about what your face looked like at the end. I see that when I close my eyes, most nights. Sometimes I see it when I'm awake, too."

"Oh." Minako sighed. "Junpei…"

Junpei bit his lip. "I don't know how you're back here," he said, "but I hope it's for real. I hope I wake up tomorrow and you're still here. You had us all pretty worked up, you know that?"

His voice was shaking, and Minako thought she saw something glimmering in the corners of his eyes.

"Are you crying?" she asked, genuinely surprised. Over-macho Junpei, always trying to be the hero, wasn't usually the tearful type. It was rare for him to lose it like this.

"Of course not," muttered Junpei, choking on the words. "Why'd you think I was crying?"

"Big boys don't cry?" asked Minako, with a smile. On a whim, she reached out, and wrapped her arms around him. Junpei stood completely still for a moment, then reached out and hugged her back, tentatively a first, then with more and more confidence.

"Oh man," he said, "you are real. Oh god, this is amazing. I mean, you're really here. You're alive."

Then, he did cry. Minako sat there and held him while the big, manly tears poured unabashedly out of him on to her shoulders and hair.

An hour or so later, the atmosphere in the room had totally changed. Junpei seemed like a different person, laughing, beaming, and cracking his old jokes. He couldn't sit still, and was standing one minute, then flopping back on to the couch another. He didn't seem to be able to figure out what to do with his hands.

"So, wait," he was saying, for probably the third time. "So, what you're telling me is that that seal thing, the thing that you made to stop Nyx, somebody else is holding that thing up, now? And so…they just let you go? Cause they don't need you anymore?"

Somehow, that sounded a bit too simple to Minako, but she nodded. "That's…more or less what I think happened."

"But um…you died, right? And so, when you died, your body…" Junpei was looking uncertainly down at her school uniform. Minako self consciously wrapped her arms around her shoulders. "I mean, when the body dies, there's…decay and stuff, right? I mean, don't take this the wrong way, but you look pretty good, for a zombie chick."

"I am not," muttered Minako," a zombie, okay? I said, I don't know what happened, or how this works, but can we just not talk about the whole 'decay' thing? Maybe this is just how it goes when your soul is, you know, fighting the fight for good and justice. You get an extra body. I don't know, okay?"

"Yeah, that's just as likely as everything else that's happened," agreed Junpei, shrugging. "So, if you're still sixteen, I guess that makes me your senpai now, huh?" He laughed. "Kinda weird, saying it like that. Wow, this is so freaky…do the others know?"

"No…no, you're the first person I saw when I woke up. I was in the Velvet Room, and then I just…sort of came here. I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't found you." Minako sighed. "Honestly, it's been so long, I don't know where anyone else is anymore. I want to see everyone, and there are…there are things I want to say."

"Yeah, I bet." Junpei nodded. "There are things we all want to say. I'll be honest with you, though, everybody's gonna think you're some kind of crazy nutjob imposter. You can't blame 'em, either, people just don't come back from the dead."

"No, I won't blame them," agreed Minako, "but I've been given another chance, for some reason, and I don't want to waste it." She carefully avoided mentioning the fact that she wasn't entirely sure how long her new lease on life was going to last. After all, Igor had said it was up to her choices. Wasn't everyone's life really like that? Maybe he hadn't meant anything else by it. She wanted to believe that…but she didn't.

"Yeah, well, you're in luck." Junpei looked proud of himself. "I've kept in touch with a lot of the old gang. We're gonna go on a mission, we'll get the band back together!" He looked excited. "I gotta find the phone, we're gonna make some calls. Wow, are they in for the surprise of their lives. I hope we dont' cause any heart attacks, or whatever."

Minako smiled and tried not to show it, but in the back of her mind, part of her was worried. Of course she wanted to see everyone again, more than she wanted anything else in the whole world. If there was anything she could have, it would be to get her life back the way it had been right before the end, when everyone was happy together and the world was a better place. Still, from what Junpei had said when she'd first seen him, it sounded like maybe some of them wouldn't want to hear from her. She'd hurt them all terribly, even if she'd never meant to for a moment, and sometimes it was easie to forget and move on with life. Would everyone be happy to see her again? Would they all even remember?

"So," Junpei was saying, "who do you want to see first? You tell old Junpei, I'm what you might call a real social butterfly these days."

Minako laughed, conjuring up a mental image of Junpei as a huge, confused looking butterfly.

"I know, I know," Junpei said. "It's Akihiko, right? Of course, you'll want to know about Akihiko."

Minako's heart sank. She did want to know, and she didn't. It was a complicated set of feelings.


	3. Chapter Two

**Author's Note: **In response to **TarePanda11**'s question about Akihiko...sorry, but I'm not telling. Wouldn't want to give away the surprise! Don't worry, though, Minako will encounter several of her former love interests in this story, so there will definitely be some romantic entanglement. In response to **Abyss of Memories, **you're definitely on the right track! Yosuke taking over temporarily for Yu…that's pretty much exactly what's going to happen. This story takes place several years after the events of FES, though, so hopefully it won't be too similar…

Thanks so much to you both, and to **MegaPotato** for reading and commenting!

**Chapter Two**

Junpei and Minako sat down to a makeshift dinner of leftover grilled steak from the local store.

"I bet you're pretty hungry," Junpei said, as Minako tried to manage to be polite and dainty while tearing ravenously into a hunk of steak. "After all, you haven't eaten in, like, three years."

"Thank you for the food," murmured Minako, a little bit embarrassed. She wiped the sauce-stained corners of her mouth with a napkin that Junpei passed over to her. "I guess I am hungry."

"Don't mention it." Junpei looked delighted. "I mean, it's not like I haven't seen you eat too much before." After a moment's pause, he added, looking down fixedly at his plate, "besides, this makes you seem more real. I mean. Real people get hungry. Ghosts…probably don't, right?"

"Well, don't worry, I'm not a ghost." Minako wolfed down another bite of steak. "I could probably stand to lose a few pounds, too."

Junpei stared at her. "Seriously? You just freakin' came back from the dead, and you're already worried about your weight? I just don't get girls sometimes…" Shaking his head, he swallowed a mouthful and sat back in his chair with a satisfied sigh. "Okay, so. You wanted to know about Akihiko, right?"

Minako tried not to look worried. "Yeah, of course," she said. "So, where is he? What happened to him after Gekkoukan?"

"Akihiko-senpai went to college, some big university with an even bigger focus on sports," Junpei told her. "He got a boxing scholarship or something like that."

Minako nodded. Of course, that made sense. After all, he had been a champion athlete, always working on his strength and his stamina. "And then?" she asked.

"And then," continued Junpei, "about a year into school, he suddenly just dropped out and moved right back to Tatsumi Port Island. We all thought it was totally weird, until we found out that he'd been picked up by some local professional boxing team, and they were giving him tons of money to fight for them! So, after he started making the big bucks, apparently he got back in touch with Ken-kun, and started using that money to help Ken get some good tutors, or whatever. I mean, Ken-kun's always been really smart, but it's been hard for him to get ahead, with his mother and father both dead, and everything. Anyway, they're both still living not too far from Gekkoukan. I'm gonna call him up right after dinner; I don't know what he's going to do when he finds out that you're back. He'll probably beat the shit out of me for being the first one to see you."

Minako smiled. So, Akihiko was looking out for Ken. Well, that made sense too. Of course, after everything they'd been through together, they'd want to keep an eye on each other. Yeah, that was the way it was supposed to be.

Then, after a deep breath,Minako asked the hard question, the one she'd been trying not to think too much about. "Um…so….do you know if Akihiko's seeing anybody?"

"Huh?" For a moment, Junpei looked confused. Then understanding dawned, and he bit his lip. "Um, wow, no, I don't really know. I mean, I know there have been a few women since…well, since he graduated from high school, but I don't think there was anything serious. I mean…you were pretty important to him. It was probably hard to move on..."

I want to be important to him _now_, thought Minako. Why did there have to be so many years between the two of them? If only she'd found a way to come back sooner. She'd wanted Junpei to say that Akihiko had waited for her, that there hadn't been anyone else, but…who was she kidding? Hadn't she wanted Akihiko to be happy? Of course he'd moved on. He'd never expected her to come back. Again, that was the way it was supposed to be…right?

Minako's heart felt like a lead weight. Still, no reason to tell Junpei that. She'd come back from the dead. She'd been granted a "reprieve." She was supposed to be ecstatic, enjoying every moment. It was time, she decided, to make an effort.

"Well." Minako tried to force the disappointed thoughts out of her mind, and she planted the smile firmly back on her face. "I can't wait to see him again. And how is everybody else? Have you heard from Yukari? Fuuka? What about Mitsuru?"

"Uh, well." Junpei frowned, and looked like he was about to say something, but apparently changed his mind. Clearing his throat, he said, a little more loudly and cheerfully than he needed to, "Mitsuru's in school somewhere. I actually haven't talked to her in a while, but you can bet she's the top of her class and doing whatever she wants, right? Akihiko will probably know where to find her, we can ask him. Yukari met some guy who lived out near where her mom is at. She acts like it was love at first sight. I was surprised; Yuka-tan was always kinda prickly to me at school. I figured she wasn't the type to fall so fast. They're getting married in the summer. I think she's still helping out at one of those charity centers, like, for women from broken homes. She seems pretty into it. And, Mina-tan, you're gonna love this; Fuuka started a catering business."

Minako raised an eyebrow. "Oh no. You're not serious." She couldn't help but imagine people getting violently sick after eating some of the surprise ingredients that Fuuka tended to cook into her food, always with the best of intentions.

Junpei must have seen the look on her face, because he laughed. "Nah, she's doing really well. I think she's got a partner, somebody who's keeping her on track and making sure she doesn't poison anybody."

"That's a relief." Minako knew that Fuuka must be really happy, being able to make things to help people celebrate or cheer them up. Minako remembered with some unwelcome disgust the many things that Fuuka had baked and made her try, some of which had been inedible, others of which she'd unfortunately had to eat and then discreetly vomit out later. "I'm glad she's found her niche."

"Oh," said Junpei, "but everybody's gonna want to give you all the details in person. It's gonna get pretty crazy in here when I start making phone calls. Don't worry if I have to raise my voice, okay? Nobody's gonna believe me at first…but don't you worry, I'll get 'em here. You can count on me. It's gonna be the reunion of the century! "

Junpei stood up and started to walk into the kitchen, where he kept the phone. Just before leaving the room, he turned around, stared at Minako for a moment, and muttered, "Just…just be here when I get back, okay?"

"I will be," Minako assured him. "I'm not going anywhere."

At least, not yet, she thought, but decided to keep that sentiment to herself.


	4. Chapter Three

**Author's note: **Two chapters in one day? What? It must be the weekend!

**Chapter Three**

Minako busied herself cleaning up the dishes from dinner, while Junpei began making phone calls in the other room. Several times, she heard him say things like "Hey, wait, seriously, I'm not making this up!" or "Aw, man, he hung up on me…" When she got tired of listening to him getting frustrated, or raising his voice at the person on the other end of the line, she retired to the living room to watch television.

The news was on, and it seemed for a while as though nothing exciting was happening in Inaba. Minako wasn't surprised. After all, Inaba did seem to be a pretty small, quiet town. It must be nice, she thought, to live somewhere where you didn't have to fight monsters and fend for your life every second or third day of the week. Just as she was reflecting o what it might be like to live a normal, mundane, run-of-the-mill life, the reporter on the news started saying something that got Minako's full attention.

"The mysterious death of a seventeen year old student has rocked the hearts and minds of people across the Inaba region. Yu Narukami, visiting friends and family in Inaba for the winter holiday vacation, died yesterday of mysterious and unknown causes. His cousin, eight year old Nanako Dojima, found him lying dead in his bed around 9:00 PM last night. The doctors are still at a loss as to the cause of the boy's death, and an investigation is underway by the Inaba police force. Is it possible that this is another victim of the series of murders which seemed to have ended so abruptly only a year ago? Let me tell you, I sure hope that's not the case."

Minako wasn't sure exactly why, but she felt the hackles on the back of her neck rise as she watched the picture of Yu Narukami flash across the television screen. She'd never seen him before, she was sure of that, and yet something about his face was familiar to her. It was…strange that he'd died at around exactly the same time that she'd suddenly been allowed to live again. Well, no, she reasoned with herself, it wasn't exactly strange. It was suspicious. Then again, of course, people died every day. Why should she get all worked up over this Narukami guy in particular? It probably had nothing to do with her, and was just one of those unfortunate coincidences that so often took place between life and death.

The news program showed a picture of his friends and family, gathered around his hospital room, most of them crying or staring around at each other in shock. There she was, that eight year old girl that had found her cousin's body. There were a couple of sobbing older girls, too, and a shaggy-haired boy with headphones around his neck, who looked angry enough to murder somebody himself.

So that's what it looks like, she thought, when somebody dies. That's what grief looks like. She knew what it felt like, of course, but she'd never really considered what it would look like to lose someone she cared about. She'd always either been the loser, or been the one who was lost. She'd never watched it happen to someone else.

It looked awful. Minako felt a pang of real guilt. She'd caused something like that to her friends, too. Even if she had done it to save the world, with what honestly had been the best and most noble of intentions, she'd made her loved ones grieve like crazy. That wasn't a pleasant thought.

And now, of course, these people were grieving for this Narukami guy. There was no way that could be her fault too, right?

Someone had taken her place, she knew…was it a coincidence that she'd ended up in Inaba, the same place where Yu Narukami had been before he'd passed away? She desperately wanted to believe that she was imaging things, and yet…

"Phew, okay." Junpei came into the living room, mercifully interrupting her train of thought. "I'm pretty sure everybody is either in a car or on a train right now on their way to us. It took some doing, but I think we're about to have a house full of people freakin' out. Jeez, I guess I should have gone shopping first…what are they all gonna eat?"

Minako blinked at him. "You sound like someone's mother."

"Yeah, uh, I guess I do." Junpei shrugged. "Seriously, though, they're gonna eat all my food and then what am I gonna do?"

That reminded Minako of something. "Hey, Junpei. You never told me what you're up to these days." Inwardly, she was ashamed of herself for not even bothering to ask. He'd rescued her from the train station, fed her, and she hadn't even bothered to ask about what he'd been doing for three years? That was pretty much the definition of the word 'selfish.'

"Oh, sure." Junpei grinned. "I'm a clerk at this guy's shop in town. It's not just any shop, though; you've gotta see this place. This guy, Daidara-san, he sells all these crazy weapons and armor that he makes himself! He calls it 'art,' but this stuff could seriously hurt somebody. Oh, and since I work at the front desk, so he doesn't have to, I get some sweet discounts."

"Discounts?" Minako was confused. "What do you need fancy weapons for, Junpei?"

"Ah, nothing really." Junpei sighed. "But they sure do look pretty cool, right? Anyway, I'll take you there tomorrow. You can meet the boss."

"Um…actually…" Minako looked sheepish for a moment. "If we could maybe go by an outlet mall, or a local boutique…I don't have any other clothes. Or," she added, after a moment's reflection, "any money, either…"

Junpei eyed her. "Okay," he said. "Right. So, first order of business; we've gotta find you a job. But yeah, we'll do that tomorrow. I'm beat, I bet you are too. Let's get some sleep."

Minako had to admit that she was definitely tired. Thinking about sleeping only made it worse. Trying to stifle a yawn, she looked around and asked, "but…where will I…?"

Junpei grabbed a blanket from the closet and threw it over the back of the couch. "I know I'm supposed to often the girl the bed, but would you mind sleeping on the sofa? It…would be kind of strange, having a girl in my bed, when I'm not there. Not that I'm trying to get us to go to bed together. That's…definitely not what I meant." Junpei seemed to have turned pink.

"The sofa sounds fantastic." Minako sank gratefully backwards until her head was resting on one of the sofa's arms. "Junpei, you're..my best friend. You're the best friend a girl could have. Thanks for all of this. Thanks for letting me feel so normal."

"Don't mention it." Junpei started to walk up towards the stairs. "I've got your back, okay? Now get some sleep, we're gonna have a crazy day tomorrow."

He started up the stairs, just as Minako began to close her eyes. She heard his footsteps stop on the landing, and looked over to see him watching her with uncertainty and doubt in his eyes again.

"You're still gonna be here when I wake up, right?" he asked. "I want you to promise."

"I promise," Minako insisted. A few minutes later, she drifted off to sleep.

Minako had hoped for a long, dreamless night, but it wasn't meant to be. Almost as soon as she fell asleep, she found herself again in the Velvet Room.

This time, however, something was different. Igor was nowhere to be seen, and the only occupant of the room was a tall, attractive woman, with silver-blond waves of hair, and a very concerned look on her face. She was seated in a chair by herself to the right of where Igor usually sat. Minako was sure she'd never seen her before.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room," said the woman. "I'm sorry, but my master is not in right now."

"Um, that's okay." Minako shrugged. "I think there must have been a mistake, I just want to get some sleep. If Igor didn't call me here, then-!"

"I'm afraid that I called you here." The woman sighed. "Please forgive me this terrible imposition. My master would be furious if he ever found out that I had forced a guest into the Velvet Room without his permission, and yet, I…I needed to see you. Oh," Putting on a small, polite smile, she inclined her head, and added, "My name is Margaret. It is unforgiveable that I have been so rude to our valued guest."

"It's no problem." Minako peered into the shadows around Margaret's chair. She didn't see Elizabeth or Theodore anywhere. "What did you want to see me about?"

Margaret didn't say anything for a moment. She seemed to be thinking, staring into Minako's eyes as she did so. Finally, she whispered, "You are the seal, aren't you? Or at least…you were the seal, until very recently."

"Yes," said Minako, "I'm the seal."

Margaret inhaled sharply. "Then it's true," she said. "Fate has been changed. The flow of the future is altered. There is a new seal."

"I think so." Minako was starting to get uncomfortable. "At least, that's what Igor told me."

"Listen carefully, Minako Arisato." Margaret's voice was still polite, but now hushed and urgent. She leaned forward in her chair to get closer to Minako's startled face. "I do not know if there is much time until my master returns. You must heed what it is I have to say, before it is too late. Do you remember Elizabeth and Theodore, the occupants of this room who resided here during your first time on earth?" Minako nodded, and Margaret continued. "Elizabeth and Theodore are my brother and sister. Over a year ago, they suddenly left this place, insisting that they could not rest until they had found a cure for the one who had saved the world by becoming the great seal. Their goal was to find a way to release the child who had become the seal, and to allow that child to again live on earth. You see, they'd grown to care about that child very much."

Minako remembered Elizabeth and Theodore. She had frequently taken both of them out to explore the human world, and they had been charmed by the people they'd seen and the things they'd found. In the end, they'd become almost her friends, even if friendship was difficult between people who were from totally different physical and psychological worlds.

"Yeah," said Minako. "I cared about them too."

"When they left this place, "Margaret was saying, ignoring Minako's interjection, "My master summoned me here to take their place, to assist the guests who enter this room and to meet the needs of their minds and souls. Although happy to fulfill my duties to my master, I confess that I was desperate to learn the whereabouts of my sister and brother, in hopes that I might someday bring them back and that we might all be a family again. I fear that your sudden return to earth is the work of Elizabeth and Theodore, and that they have finally found what they have been seeking all of this time."

"Why is that bad?" asked Minako, although she thought she might already know the answer.

"Because," insisted Margaret, "it seems that in order to procure your release, they have sacrificed the life of someone else, another former guest of this room, whose heart is pure and whose soul is strong, just as yours is." After a moment, she added, in a quieter voice, "he is someone who was once very close to me as well. We are not without the ability to form attachments, here. I…I do not wish for his demise."

Minako held her breath."Yu Narukami," she said. Margaret just nodded. "I knew it," muttered Minako. "I knew it wasn't a coincidence."

"Yu Narukami was once a visitor of ours, a young man with power and potential not unlike your own. With the help of his treasured friends, he saved the world from a menace that presented itself in a very different way from the way in which the end of the world presented itself to you. The two of you are, in some ways, two sides of the same circle, to parts of the same whole. It is your strength and your ability to use persona that has prevented the world from dissolving into ruin more than once. It seems he has now been chosen to bear the same burden that was once yours, although…I confess I do not know how Elizabeth and Theodore achieved this. Fate and the path of the future should be unalterable that this late stage. It is…confusing."

"I never wanted anyone else to suffer for me," Minako insisted. She felt she had to say it, had to justify herself to someone, even if only to this mysterious woman who she'd never seen before in her life. "I didn't ask for this."

"Nevertheless," replied Margaret, "it is the hand that life has dealt you, and you must play it. I thank you for coming here today, and for answering my questions. I needed to know the truth. I needed to know if my fears were real, if my brother and sister really had taken the life of someone I loved."

"What do you want me to do?" asked Minako. The Velvet Room around her began to swim fuzzily, and Margaret's face began to fade from sight. Just before the woman disappeared, Minako heard her whisper, "It is not my decision. You, alone, have the power to decide how this story ends."


	5. Chapter Four

**Author's Note: **Just a head's up, I won't be able to update tomorrow or Monday because I'll be booked up both days with rehearsals. I know I've been updating every day, and I promise I'll be back on Tuesday. Feel free to check back late Tuesday night for a new chapter! **Nightmare637**, thanks for catching that mistake! I fixed it. It's great that you were paying such close attention that you caught that, I really appreciate it. **AbyssOfMemories**, are you reading my mind? That's a cool trick, how do you do it? I'm gonna try to make sure to take the plot in at least one direction that will surprise you, though…

Oh, by the way, the whole thing about Elizabeth trying to rescue the protagonist, they hint at that in Persona 4, and then they really talk about it in Arena. Be warned, there will be some Elizabeth-related Arena storyline spoilers in future chapters.

**Chapter Four**

Minako woke up with a jolt. She was breathing hard, and it took her a few moments to relax and get her bearings. The Velvet Room was gone, and so was Margaret. Instead, Minako was back on Junpei's sofa, with the blanket tangled around her in such a way that made it seem she'd been thrashing around in her sleep.

So, she hadn't been wrong when she'd worried about the mysterious death of the Narukami boy. Somehow, he had contained some power or some ability that had made him a perfect replacement for Minako herself. There wasn't really a solution to the problem of the great seal. It would always have to be there. In her heart, Minako knew that. She had always known that. Without the seal, all that she had worked to save would be lost.

This boy, of course, probably hadn't known that. It was unlikely that Elizabeth and Theodore, bent on saving her as they apparently were, would have told him the truth, or given him a choice as to whether or not he was willing to become the seal. As Margaret had said, something didn't add up. How had they obtained that power? Shouldn't it be impossible to forge a new seal while one already existed?

Belatedly, Minako felt that she should be touched and flattered by Elizabeth and Theodore's devotion. She ought to be grateful to them, for coming so far and working so hard to save her life.

For some reason, though, she wasn't grateful. She wasn't relieved. Instead, she was angry. Why had they done this? It was almost as though they had made her a murderer. It was her fault that Narukami was dead. Maybe she hadn't intended it, but it was because of her that all of this had happened.

There were too many questions and too much confusion for Minako to handle alone. She thought of going upstairs to wake up Junpei, to tell him everything. Junpei had always been there for her, he'd always listened and been willing to meet all of their challenges head-on. He'd know what to do, or, if he didn't, they'd figure it out together.

Of course, she knew she couldn't do that. He'd be frightened if she told him, frightened that they were going to try to take her away again. She didn't want to scare him anymore. No, this mystery was one that she was going to have to face alone, and that made it even worse.

She was lost in that miserable, lonely speculation when someone began to bang loudly on the front door. Minako looked at the clock. It was four o'clock in the morning. Who on earth would be trying to get into the house at this hour? Looking around for something she could potentially use as a weapon, all she could find was a heavy coffee table book. Any blunt instrument in a storm, she thought, and picked it up in both hands.

"Hello?" Minako advanced on the door, and then discovered that she had to put the book down in order to open it. Frustrated, she spent some time trying to fumble the doorknob while still clutching her makeshift weapon, then eventually gave up, dropped the book, threw the door open, and prepared for the worst.

Akihiko stepped through the doorway, and his jaw fell open when he saw her. "So, it's true," he said, in a sort of soft, breathless voice. "You're back."

He looked good. Tall, strong, muscular, vibrant, just the way Minako remembered him. His presence in the room made her heart flutter as though no time had passed between them at all. "Aki?" she whispered. Slowly, he reached one arm out and passed it around her waist, drawing her close to him and reaching up a hand to brush back the mop of her brown hair that was thrown in front of her face, mussed from restless sleep.

"I…I thought I would never see you again," he murmured. "God, you're exactly the same…" Then he brought his face down close to hers, and brushed his lips against her cheek, then against the top of her head. Minako closed her eyes and let him pull her closer in.

Even as he embraced her, however, Minako felt uncomfortable. She thought she could feel someone's eyes on her, and she opened her own eyes to peer over Akihiko's shoulder. Only then did she see the other man standing in the doorway, watching the two of them with an unreadable expression on his tanned face. The other man was broad-shouldered, craggy, with wild eyes and a crop of dark, unkempt hair under his hat. She recognized that hat. It was the same one he had always worn, the one that she'd found in his bedroom the dafter after one of the worst tragedies of her life had occurred.

"Shinji," breathed Minako.

Shinjiro met her gaze, nodded once, then turned away and walked back out of the house.

"Shinji! Wait!" Minako freed herself from Akihiko, and called out after Shinjiro, but he just kept walking, back towards a car that was parked in front of the house. As Minako watched, she saw Shinjiro open the back of the car, and help Ken Amada out of the back seat.

"Yeah," said Akihiko, "I drove right over and picked them both up as soon as Junpei called me. You should have seen the look on Ken's face. It was like Christmas and his birthday at the same time." Akihiko laughed, then pulled Minako back into his arms to gaze into her eyes. "Not that I blame him. This is…the most wonderful thing that could happen right now. It's like…I don't know, some kind of miracle." Then he looked embarrassed for a moment, and cleared his throat, relaxing his grip and letting her move a little farther from him. "I mean…I'm really happy to see you again. Of course, we all are."

But Shinjiro, thought Minako, hadn't looked very happy. She forced herself to tear her eyes away from him as he pulled a suitcase out of the trunk, and began walking back towards the house.

"I'm happy to see you too, Aki," she insisted, snuggling against his chest. For some reason, that was all she seemed to be able to say. They stood there together in the doorway, holding each other, just as Junpei came running down the stairs in his pajamas.

"Whoa, what the hell? The sun's not even up yet! Dude, you two, get a room! Uh, and not mine, either!" Even while he reprimanded them, Junpei was grinning. "Hang on, let me put some clothes on."

**Meanwhile, at the Junes food court…**

Everyone was gathered at what they'd once called their "special headquarters," but the atmosphere was dark and depressing. Yosuke watched as Chie and Yukiko came out of Junes carrying trays of steak, which they plopped down on the tables before sinking back into their chairs.

Yosuke took a deep breath. "So," he said. "We're here to discuss our new mission."

"You don't have to put it like that," interrupted Chie. "It doesn't' sound right."

"It's too personal to be called a 'mission,'" agreed Yukiko, with a little sigh.

Yosuke ignored them. "We need to find out the truth about what happened to Yu." He managed to get through that sentence without letting his voice waver, but he saw Chie and Rise both wince and look away from him. "It's possible that all of this may have something to do with the return of the midnight channel, and I…I won't be able to sleep again until I know for sure why this happened."

"Yeah," agreed Kanji. "Somebody's gonna pay for this shit."

"Agreed," murmured Naoto.

Now, thought Yosuke, here came the hard part. "I am," he began, "temporarily appointing myself as our new leader, until…"

"Until we figure out why we don't have our old leader anymore," sniffed Chie.

There were no arguments. Everyone sat silently, watching Yosuke's face. After waiting for a minute to see if anyone would speak up, Yosuke cleared his throat. "Okay," he said. "So, our first job. What we're going to do is…"


	6. Chaper Five

**Author's Note: **Surprise! I managed to catch an earlier train and made it home in time for a Monday update after all! Hooray!

So, first things first, **AbyssOfMemories,** you're on! Trust me, I have one up my sleep that you don't see coming, maybe even two! Mwahahaha…I hope. **Gamipedia**, thanks for reading! You really might want to try playing the games first, though, there are going to be a LOOOOOT of big spoilers in here. I mean, there already have been some pretty epic ones…like the fact that Minako was dead, and all. **Lionheart**, you are right about that tension, and **Jenni Saba**, if you thought THAT was bad, wait till you see THIS! **A Fool's Reflection**, I seriously appreciate the amount of effort and consideration you put into reading and reviewing my story. Thanks so much all of it!

All right, so, here's the deal. We've made it into the double digits – 10 reviews! What do you think, can we push 20? I dare you to post a review or comment on this story and see if we can get to 20 reviews.

As always, thanks for reading!

Oh, and PS: I PROMISE that we're about to see a lot more of the investigation team. I know several people have asked if they're gonna show up more. Yes, they are. Soon. Honest!

**Chapter Five**

It was starting to get dark outside as Yosuke finished up his shift at Junes. While distractedly stocking the produce shelves, he tried not to think about all of the times that Yu had come running at a moment's notice to help him out at the store. Unfortunately, every time Yosuke turned a corner in Junes, he found somewhere that he and Yu had hung out together. The constant reminders made him miserable.

"This sucks," he muttered to not one at all.

"Huh? What sucks?" Yosuke turned to find that Junpei Iori had come up behind him, his arms laden with soda cans, bags of potato chips and candy bars.

"Oh, Iori-san." Yosuke put on his best customer-service smile, and then shot a glance at the candy and chips. "Do you, um, want a cart for all that?"

"That…might be a good idea. Haha, sorry." Junpei waited sheepishly while Yosuke went and dutifully found him a shopping cart. Together, they loaded the cart full of Junpei's snacks. "Thanks, man."

"No worries." Yosuke shrugged. "That's what I do. What's all this stuff for, anyway? Did you just get dumped, or something?"

Junpei looked shocked. "Whoa, hey, what kind of a question is that to ask a guy? For your information, I'm having a party at my place. A friend of mine just, uh, moved here from out of town, so we're celebrating!"

"Oh, cool." Yosuke tried not to look too depressed, but he knew it wasn't working, and he didn't really care. "Must be nice." He remembered the celebrations he and his friends had all spent together, like the one they'd thrown when Nanako-chan got out of the hospital, and the one they'd had when Yu had first arrived back in Inaba for the beginning of what would end up being his last winter break.

"Jeez," said Junpei, "You look terrible. You work too hard. Hey, when does your shift end?"

Yosuke looked at his watch. "In about ten minutes."

"Cool." Junpei grinned. "Then why don't you come back with me and meet some of my friends? You look like you could use a good time. And trust me, man, some of these girls, they are pretty cute. You won't regret it, that's all I'm saying."

Yosuke thought about saying no. He knew that now, while he was still frankly grieving, was hardly the right time to go over and party with girls at a friend's house. He didn't feel much like having what Junpei called "a good time." The fact was, though, that he couldn't think of anything else useful to do. Teddie and Rise were on the other side, watching for any signs of suspicious activity. Yosuke, without Teddie's nose or Rise's skills, wasn't much use in that department. Chie and Yukiko were having dinner at the Amagi Inn, with Yukiko's parents, and they wouldn't be done for hours. Kanji was probably off hitting something to make himself feel better, and nobody ever knew where Naoto was unless she wanted them to. All that was left for Yosuke to do was to go home, lie around in bed and be miserable and sorry for himself. With that on the agenda, going to a party to try to take his mind off things didn't sound like such a terrible idea.

"Yeah," he said, "okay, sure. Thanks, Iori-san."

"Dude," said Junpei, pushing his car towards the line of cash registers, "you can call me Junpei."

**Meanwhile, at Junpei's house**

Minako wasn't sure whether or not she was having a good time. All of her friends had shown up over the course of the day, and Junpei's house was now erupting into exactly the kind of chaos that resulted from a hoard of people trying to throw a party in a single-family living room. Yukari and Fuuka were in the kitchen, trying to make the best of the leftover snack foods that Junpei had lying around in his cabinets. Mitsuru was on her cell phone, calling in sick to her weekly courses, Shinjiro was…well, Minako hadn't seen him since he'd driven up with Akihiko and Ken. He seemed to be avoiding her.

Akihiko on the other hand, was sitting with Minako on the couch, his hand resting on top of hers as Ken excitedly related stories about his first semester as a middle schooler. He was trying to be manly and nonchalant about it, Minako knew, but Ken was clearly delighted with his new school and his new friends, and he was having trouble not letting that shine through as he described them to anyone who would listen. It made Minako smile, but when she glanced over at Akihiko, she thought he looked a little bit uncomfortable.

"Is everything okay?" she asked him, squeezing his hand.

"Of course." He nodded absently at her, and then, releasing her hand, stood up. "I'm gonna go see what's taking the girls so long. I mean, how hard is it to make some ramen? " Not waiting for her to respond, he took off towards the kitchen. Minako frowned and followed him with her eyes until she saw him talking to a harassed looking Fuuka. Yukari left the two of them and walked over to the sofa.

"Wow," she yawned, "I'm exhausted. You must be too, Mina-chan. After all, it's been one crazy couple of days, right?"

"Yeah…" Yukari's yawn was contagious. Minako tried to be ladylike about it. "I am a little tired…"

"As am I," agreed Mitsuru. "I don't like the idea of trying to drive home with so little energy. I wouldn't want to be the cause of an accident."

"Yeah, no kidding." Yukari was frowning. "But we can't stay here. I mean…there's not enough room. Even if we all curled up on the floor, it wouldn't work." She didn't sound like she liked the idea.

"Never fear, Junpei's here!" Minako turned to see that Junpei was coming in through the front door. He had another boy with him, a shaggy-haired boy with headphones draped around his neck, who didn't look too much older than Minako herself.

"I'm back," said Junpei, "and I've got a great idea. Why don't we all go and party over at the Amagi Inn? They're having a rough season, so they'll probably have some vacant rooms we can use."

"They're expensive," said the shaggy haired boy. "Still, I bet they could use the business. Times are hard, you know?"

Something about the shaggy-haired boy seemed familiar to Minako, and she got up off the couch to have a closer look. Junpei, seeing her, cocked a thumb over at the other boy, and announced, "This is Yosuke Hanamura. Yosuke, meet Minako Arisato. Oh, and this here is Yukari, and Mitsuru-san, and that guy over there is Akihiko-san, and that's Ken…"

Junpei continued introducing people, but Minako had stopped listening. She was sure she'd seen this boy somewhere before, and that she'd seen him very recently. Then, suddenly, with a sickening jolt, she remembered. Yosuke had been one of the people she'd seen on that news program, standing around outside Yu Narukami's hospital room. He was one of that Narukami boy's friends.

A fresh wave of guilt swept over Minako, and as her stomach turned, she realized that she needed to be somewhere, anywhere else. Mumbling, "I need some fresh air," she brushed past her surprised friends, headed out the front door and then began to run. She wasn't running anywhere in particular, and it didn't take her long to have to stop and catch her breath. When she looked up, she found she'd met some sort of bricked-up dead end where the neighborhood seemed to stop.

"It's not fair," she muttered to herself, sinking down against the brick wall and drawing her knees up against her chest. "I didn't mean for it to happen. I didn't want anybody to get hurt. Why did he have to come here? Can't I just spend a few minutes enjoying the fact that I'm alive?"

With no one around to see her, Minako sat back, buried her face in her hands, and let herself cry. In all the best stories, she thought, the person who risked her life to save the world was rewarded with a fairytale ending. Minako, instead, had died, but then she'd come back, and shed' really almost thought that maybe this was her chance to get her fairytale ending. Instead, three years had passed for everyone but her, and the man she loved was acting strangely after such a long absence. Her friends all seemed to have moved on with their lives, and she would never have a chance to move on with hers, because apparently she'd accidentally killed someone to get it back in the first place.

"Wow. I am the most selfish person I have ever met," she muttered. "And I don't care."

"We're all selfish sometimes," came a voice from the darkness in front of her. "It's just what people are like. I figured you knew that."

Minako had the presence of mind not to scream, but she did jump to her feet and try to step backwards into the wall as a figure in a long coat approached her, holding out a wrinkled pack of tissues. "Here," said the figure. "Your eyes are all puffy."

"Shinji?" Even in the dark, there was no mistaking that voice. Shinjiro honestly didn't' look as though he'd changed at all since she'd seen him that last time at Gekkoukan High, when he'd climbed up to the roof and found her lying there, dying. He would never be a healthy man after all the special medications he'd taken to help control his persona. Even after all these years, he still looked slightly haggard, like a man who shouldn't be running around out in the cold. Still, he was alive, and not only had he lived through the bullet wound he'd sustained at Gekkoukan, he'd lived for years after that. Minako was thrilled to see him. "Shinji I'm so glad you're okay." She thwarted a sniffle, and accepted the tissues he was waving at her.

"I could say the same for you," grunted Shinjiro, but something about his tone didn't sound so delighted. Minako stepped forward to see him better. "What's all this about , anyway? I saw you take off. You shouldn't just run off like that, when it's dark. You could have been hit by a car, or something worse."

Minako couldn't help but laugh. "Shinji, I stopped the end of the world," she said. "I defeated more monsters than I can count on my fingers and toes. I'm not a helpless little girl."

"Yeah," agreed Shinjiro with a shrug, "but you're pretty small, and I could still overpower you easily if I wanted to. "

Minako started to respond, but before the words had gotten out of her mouth, Shinjiro's arms were around her, tightly, and he had her pinned hard against him. She could feel his heart beating through his shirt, and her own heart started beating faster to match it. His skin, when his hand briefly brushed hers, was hot to the touch.

"I'm just saying," he said, in a quiet, husky voice, "you shouldn't be out alone at night."

"Point taken," whispered Minako.

She waited for Shinjiro to release her, but for a moment he didn't. They stood together for several long seconds, until Minako finally looked up and met his eyes. As soon as she did, he let her go so quickly that she stumbled backwards and he had to reach out and steady her with one arm.

"Damnit," he muttered, "nothing's changed. After three years I still can't get you out of my head."

Minako didn't know what to say. "Look, Shinji, I never-!" she began, but he waved a hand to cut her off.

"Don't," he said, in a harsh voice, not looking at her. "Look, I get it. Nobody expected me to wake up. Wasn't I the one who told you to look out for Aki? Well, you did. You didn't do anything wrong."

"Um, does he know?" asked Minako.

"What? Not unless you told him about us. I sure didn't. What was I gonna say? 'Hey, your girlfriend, I had her before you did?' It was better not to let him know. After all, you were dead. What did it matter?"

Minako , frankly, hadn't wanted to tell Akihiko either. After she and Shinjiro had spent a couple of wonderful weeks together during his brief time with SEES, he'd been gunned down by Strega, and the doctors had insisted that he was never going to wake up. Nobody had known about her and Shinjiro, and so she decided that it was best not to let them know, to keep it to herself so that no one would want to talk to her about it, or to remind her of it. It would be easier, that way, to move on. And she had moved on. She'd moved on, in fact, to Shinjiro's best friend.

"Jeez, you don't have to keep clutching the wall like that," Shinjiro was saying. "I'm not gonna hurt you. I would never hurt you, okay? I'm not some kind of monster."

"I wasn't scared," Minako insisted. "You just startled me, that's all."

"I just wanted to see you." Shinjiro started to turn away. "I wanted to know if it was true, what Junpei said. I had…I had to see you. You understand, right?"

"Shinji." Minako bit her lip. "I-!"

"Don't." He cut her off with a word, and she stood there, watching him dumbly, as he shook his head. "Don't say anything. There was something I wanted to say…something I should have said before. Every time I should have said it, something got in the way, and I guess now it doesn't matter anymore."

"What was it?" asked Minako, although she thought, maybe even hoped that she already knew.

"Forget it. We should go back." Shinjiro started back towards the house.


	7. Chapter Six

**Author's Note: **Hey, **Jenni Saba**, thanks for your review! Yeah, you'll definitely see more of Shinjiro soon, although I wouldn't' say he's going to be a sweetheart when we meet him again. Oh, and **boy1324**, you're gonna get your fight scenes in a few chapters when they head into the TV world, but this fic is purposefully gonna move slowly, so don't be disappointed if it takes me a few pages to get there! Thanks so much for reading and reviewing.

This chapter is a little lighter than the previous few. Junpei and Yukari tend to have that effect on things. Don't worry, in the next chapter we will return to our regularly scheduled Minako and Yosuke-angst fest, and we'll begin meeting up with the rest of the Investigation Team.

**Chapter Six**

Yosuke was surprised when the girl named Minako suddenly went racing out of the room. He saw Yukari and Junpei exchange a knowing look.

"She okay? Uh, did I do something wrong?" Yosuke watched as a tall figure in a dark hat and coat peeled itself away from the wall, and followed Minako out of the house. "She looked pretty upset."

"Nah," it's not you." Junpei shook his head.

"She's just having some personal problems right now," agreed Yukari. "Minako just came back here yesterday, after three years abroad."

"Yeah, in…uh, in Africa," put in Junpei.

Yukari glared at him. "Don't be stupid, Junpei," she said, a little too sweetly. "She's been abroad in America, hasn't she?"

"Yeah, right, America." Junpei shrugged. "They both start with A, right? It's an easy mistake. Anyway, so there's this guy, right?" He gave the man who'd he'd first introduced as Akihiko a significant look. "And they were dating back when she lived here, but since she went away, there have been some other women. Now she's back, and…well, you know how it can be. Time goes by, people change."

"That was…actually kind of deep, Junpei," Yukari said, sounding just a little impressed. "But still, you shouldn't be gossiping about this stuff! Yosuke-kun doesn't need to know about all this."

Junpei ignored her. "The worst part, though," he continued, "is that Minako doesn't know about what happened between Akihiko and Mitsuru."

Mitsuru, Yosuke remembered, was the very attractive, slender woman who had been on her cell phone for most of the evening. He'd thought pretty seriously about trying to talk to her, but she was older than him, and in the end his heart wasn't really in it.

"Of course she doesn't know." Yukari was annoyed. "And why does it matter? That was over a year ago! They barely even talk to each other anymore!"

Junpei raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, okay, but have you seen the way they've been looking at each other all night? No wonder Minako's in a bad mood. Someone should probably go after her, wouldn't want to leave her out there by herself, bleeding from a broken heart."

Junpei started to head for the door, but Yosuke shook his head. "One of your friends already followed her. A tall guy. Kinda scary looking, wearing a beanie."

"Oh, Shinjiro-san?" Junpei relaxed. "That's cool. She'll be fine, then. He looks scary…and, okay, he is sorta scary…but he's a good guy. I don't think he's gotten to talk to her too much yet, either. Probably wants his chance."

Yukari looked like she wanted to change the subject. "Um, so what were you saying, Junpei, about an inn?"

"Oh, yeah!" Junpei grinned. "So, Yosuke here is good friends with the hottie whose family runs the Amagi Inn, and he says he might be able to get us discounts on rooms for the night!"

"Whoa, whoa!" Yosuke shook his head vigorously, alarm bells ringing in his brain. "I didn't say anything like that! You just asked me if I thought there would be rooms free! I'm not even gonna ask about any discount, there's no way she'd be okay with that. Besides, it's not even Yukiko's inn, she just helps out there when her mom's swamped with other stuff."

"Well, can't blame a guy for trying." Junpei didn't' seem bothered. "I still think it's a great idea. Where better to have a real celebration than at an award winning inn with famous hot springs?"

Yosuke thought about the times that he, Yu, and the rest of the team had spent hanging out in the hot springs at the inn. It had been a great place for a party. Just because he'd never be able to enjoy it again didn't mean that nobody else could. "Hang on," he said, "I'll call Yukiko and see what's available."

As he moved away from the other two to make his phone call, he heard Yukari say, in what was probably supposed to be a whisper, "Wasn't that guy friends with the kid who died a couple of days ago? Yu Narukami? I've seen his face all over the news."

"He was what? Whoa, his friend died? Oh yeah, I think you're right, I think it was him. I totally forgot about that!" Junpei sounded shocked.

"You idiot…how do you forget something like that?" Out of the corner of his eye, Yosuke saw Yukari glaring daggers at Junpei. "He's probably all distraught, and you dragged him out to a welcome-home party? Talk about rubbing it in his face…"

"Man," muttered Junpei, "now I feel like crap…"

Yosuke dialed the number of the Amagi Inn. After a few rings, he heard a click, and then Yukiko's voice came over the line. "Hello! This is the Amagi Inn, where you can be sure of a restful and relaxing stay here in beautiful, nostalgic Inaba. Yukiko Amagi speaking. How can I help you today?"

"Oh, hey Yukiko," said Yosuke. "It's me, Yosuke. Listen, do you know how many rooms you have available tonight? This guy I know wants to have a big party with some friends from out of town."

"Um, let me check." There was silence on Yukiko's end for a minute or so, and then she said, "Actually, we have four rooms open tonight. Will that be enough?"

"I don't know, I'll call you back." Yosuke hung up the phone, and returned to where Yukari and Junpei were now actively not looking at each other. When Yosuke met Yukari's eyes, she immediately put on her most cheerful, ingratiating smile. It was a pity smile. Yosuke tried not to hate it.

"Hey, thanks for calling for us!" she said, a little too brightly.

"So, what's the good news?" asked Junpei.

"There are four rooms," announced Yosuke. "You guys should be able to fit into four rooms without any problem, right?"

Junpei laughed. "Four? Man, we could probably make do with two!"

"Ew," said Yukari, "not comfortably."

"Do me a favor," began Junpei. "Call you friend back, and tell her that-!"

At that moment, Minako came back into the room, followed by Shinjiro. Several things happened all at the same time. First, Junpei, catching sight of her over Yukari's shoulder, waved her over with one hand, calling, "Hey, Mina-tan! We're making reservations for that inn I was telling you about. So, who do you want to room with?"

Even before Junpei had finished speaking the last sentence, Shinjiro and Akihiko were watching each other over Minako's head, and Akihiko started forward, his body tensed for action.

Minako, however, stepped quietly over to Junpei's side, and said, without any sign that she'd even noticed the tension, "Yukari, of course. Is that okay with you, Yukari?"

"Uh, sure!" Yukari blinked. "Yeah, of course! It'll be fun! So, that leaves Fuuka and Mitsuru for the other girls' room, and I guess maybe Akihiko-san and Shinjiro-san can…"

Akihiko and Shinjiro were now very pointedly not looking at each other. Under his breath, Akihiko muttered, "I'll stay with Junpei."

"Or, " said Yukari smoothly, "Akihiko-san can stay with Junpei, and then…Shinjiro-san can stay with Ken-kun?"

"Sure." Shinjiro shrugged. "Fine by me."

Yosuke looked around at the various people in the room, many of whom were now pretending not to have noticed that anything had happened. These people, he decided, were definitely weird.

"Oh, hey," Junpei was saying, oblivious to Yosuke's judgment, "this is gonna be great. Yosuke, why don't you call up some of your friends and bring them over too? It might get a little tight, but the more the merrier!

"Wait, wasn't the point of this for us to have more space?" asked Yukari, but Junpei wasn't listening.

Yosuke, unsure of exactly how to decline that offer politely, opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by Minako.

"Hey, Junpei?" she asked. "How exactly are we gonna pay for all of this?"

Junpei went off to discuss funding with Mitsuru and Akihiko, and the rest of the party begin drifting into corners to check on suitcases or to chat about room assignments. Before he knew it, Yosuke found himself almost alone in the room with an apologetic looking Minako.

"I'm sorry about running off like that earlier," she told him. "It's…been a really long day."

"Yeah," said Yosuke "Junpei told me about it. It's okay. I understand."

They stood for a few moments in silence, before Minako said hesitantely, "This is going to sound presumptuous, Yosuke-san, but I'm really sorry about your friend."

Yosuke was taken aback. It wasn't really surprising that Minako knew about it. After all, Yu's death had been all over the news for days, and his picture, along with Chie's, Yukiko's, and particularly Rise's, had been shown on television, in newspapers, and in magazines, usually captioned with something like "Narukami's friends grieve for his untimely loss." Still, nobody else that this party had said anything about it, if he didn't' count the whispered words that Yukari and Junpei had exchanged.

"Thanks," he said lamely. "It's pretty awful." He knew that he sounded stupid, that of course it was awful, but he didn't know what else teo say. Minako just nodded.

"Listen," she said, after an awkward moment of silence, "I'm gonna ask you something, and if you don't know what I'm talking about, its okay, you don't have to say anything. I'm not trying to be weird, or creepy, but…"

"But what?" Yosuke stared at her.

"But," she finished, "um, does the word 'persona' mean anything to you?"


	8. Chapter Seven

**Author's Note: **So, obviously I have decided to take this in a direction where the storyline no longer matches up with the one in Persona 4 Arena. Yes, I am going to provide an explanation for that later in the story, so that the storylines can match up again, and I do have it all plotted out and ready to go, so bear with me till we get there. In the meantime, blame Izanami, it's probably her fault.

**Jenni Saba**, thanks for the words of encouragement! The plot is about to get a lot thicker…jeez, poor Minako just can't seem to catch a break, can she? **Boy1234**, such flattery! Honestly, I could use a new job, so if atlus ever did want to call…aheh. Wishful thinking never hurt anyone, right?

Thanks to both of you for reading!

**Chapter Seven**

It had taken a long time for Minako to decide to ask that question.

As she walked back to the house behind a silent, brooding Shinjiro, there had been things she wanted to tell him. She wanted to make sure he knew that, after Shinjiro had been shot, she had spent three afternoons a week standing next to his hospital bed, talking to him, and waiting for him to wake up. She wanted to assure him that she'd never intended to be with Akihiko, but that Akihiko had been there for her. The thing between her aned Akihiko had just happened, and she knew Shinjiro would understand just how much she had needed it. Most of all, she wanted to tell Shinjiro the way he had made her feel when he'd grabbed her just now, the way she'd suddenly flashed back to cheap dinners out on Tatsumi Port Island, and to evenings spent watching the sun rise together in Shinjiro's dorm room. The skin on her waist was still tingling where he'd touched her, and she wanted him to do it again. This was troubling and confusing, because even as she was feeling all this, Minako was wondering what Akihiko was doing at the house, and whether or not he'd be thinking about her, or wondering why she'd run off like that.

Frustrated by her own complicated feelings, she sighed. Shinjiro glanced over his shoulder at her.

"What?" he asked.

"Oh." Minako shook her head. "No, it's nothing. I mean, it's not nothing, I just...I don't know how to say it."

Shinjiro shrugged, and kept walking.

"It's not that I don't want to talk to you," she insisted. "I do, but I have a lot to think about right now. I'm confused."

"Yeah? Well, I'm not going anywhere," muttered Shinjiro. "Sort out what you have to, then come and find me. I can wait."

They didn't speak another word to each other all the way back to the house, but somehow, Minako felt as though a heavy weight had just floated off of her shoulders. There were things that she wanted, things that she wanted to experience, and to feel. She wanted to know what a normal life was like, and she wanted to have time to spend thinking about and figuring out what Junpei would have called her "guy problems." Other girls would have had the time, but she couldn't focus. There was something she had to do first. Shinjiro was waiting. Her friends were waiting, and even she was waiting for the chance to really try to find the happy ending that she'd been denied the first time around. It was time for her to face up to the truth, particularly the truth about Yu Narukami's death, which had been preying on her mind since the moment she'd woken up. Her life, Igor had warned her, might be "limited." There wasn't a lot of time to waste.

The obvious place, then, to start looking for information about Narukami's death was Yosuke Hanamura. She didn't particularly want to talk to him. No amount of newfound resolve would make her feel any less guilty about what had happened, and she had a hard time even looking Yosuke in the eye. Still, he would have the answers that she needed, and one thing in particular that might shed light on the incident was what kind of a persona user Narukami had been. Of course, she knew, he had to have been a persona user. Only someone with the power and strength provided by a persona would have been able to take her place as the seal. If she knew a little bit about his persona, and about how he had used it, she might be able to figure out exactly why he'd been chosen for the seal in the first place.

When she'd found herself alone with Yosuke at the party, the opportunity had been obvious, so she took it. "Does the word 'persona' mean anything to you?"

The dumfounded expression that passed across Yosuke's face was enough to give him away. He definitely knew what she was talking about.

"Uh, I have no idea what you're talking about," he said.

"I don't believe you," she insisted. "You're not confused, just freaked out. You don't have a great poker face, do you?"

Yosuke looked trapped. "Who the heck are you?" he asked. "And how do you know about 'persona' anyway?"

"Look." Minako gestured towards the doorway. "I'm gonna tell you everything, but…let's go outside and talk about it, okay? There's some stuff that I don't think all of my friends need to hear right now."

Without waiting to see if he'd follow her, Minako started walking towards the door. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him hesitate, and then begin to follow behind. They both stepped outside and had a seat together on the curb.

Of course, she reflected guiltily, she'd lied to him just then. Minako had absolutely no intention of telling Yosuke everything. Nobody in their right mind would. This guy was probably a persona user too, and if he was, he could be dangerous. She didn't doubt that he'd get angry if he found out the real reason that his best friend had died, and she did not want a vengeful, dangerous persona-user out for her blood.

Instead, she turned to him, rested her hands on her knees, and said, "it's kind of a long story."

Yosuke blinked. "What? Seriously? Is that all I get? No way, you said you were gonna explain."

"Hold on, I am. I'm just saying, don't get impatient, this is going to take a while." Minako sighed. "So, what did they tell you about me? Junpei and Yukari, I mean. Did they tell you where I'd been for the past three years?"

"Um. They said you were in Africa. Or America." Yosuke looked confused.

"Okay, well, they lied," said Minako. "Probably because they didn't think you'd believe the truth. The truth is that I've been on a mission for three years, using my powers and my persona to fend off evil."

That sounded so lame and stupid coming out of her mouth that for a moment Minako was sure she'd blown it. To her surprise, Yosuke just nodded, still giving her his undivided attention. "And," she continued, trying to look and sound confident enough not to give away the lie, "I came back when Yu Narukami died, because someone who cared about him asked me to use my powers to help figure out what happened to him." Oh dear, she thought, this was only getting worse as she went along.

"So," whispered Yosuke, more to himself than to Minako, "I'm not crazy…I knew Yu's death had something to do with the other world."

"The…other world?" Minako was puzzled. Did the other world mean Tartarus? "Um, yeah, you're right. And obviously there are some questions that I want to ask you, about your friend, and about-!"

"Who sent you?" interrupted Yosuke. "You said someone sent you to figure out what happened to him. Who was it?"

"That's…kind of tough to explain." Minako frowned. "She lives in the persona world."

"You mean, the shadow world?" asked Yosuke.

"No. I don't think there are any shadows there." Minako was pretty sure that shadows weren't even allowed inside the Velvet Room. "At least, not that I've seen."

"There's a third world?" Yosuke seemed to be having trouble understanding.

"What?" asked Minako.

The two of them sat for a moment, staring at each other, while Minako tried to figure out what her next step should be. As it turned out, she didn't have to decide. With a determined look on his face, Yosuke stood up.

"Let's got to Junes," he said. "I need you to prove that you aren't making this up."

"How could I be making it up?" asked Minako. "You already know that personas and shadows are real. It would be a really strange coincidence if I just happened to make up something you already knew really existed."

"Forget it, you know what I mean." Yosuke headed for a car that was parked on the end of the curb. "Come on."

They took Yosuke's car the down the road to where Junes had shut off all of its lights for the night. Pulling out his key, Yosuke held a finger to his lips as he opened the door to let Minako into the electronics department. They walked down the aisles together until Yosuke stopped in front of a giant TV monitor.

"Okay," he said. "If you're really a persona user, then prove it to me. Go in there."

Minako looked around. "Where?"

"Into the TV." Yosuke tapped on the side of it. "Go on, show me."

While Yosuke stared at her, arms crossed doubtfully over his chest, Minako blinked at the TV. "So what you're asking," she said slowly, "is for me to go inside this television set. Right?"

"Right," Yosuke looked expectant. "Obviously."

"Obviously? There's nothing obvious about it!" Minako was starting to get really worried. Was this Yosuke guy actually crazy? Had she got this all wrong? "How the heck am I supposed to go inside a TV? Is it a fake, or a model? Is there a trap door in there or something?"

Yosuke sighed. "I knew it, I knew it couldn't be true. Where'd you come from, and why'd you tell me all that stuff? How do you know about Yu's persona? "

"Look, I told you already," Minako began, but Yosuke was shaking his head and gritting his teeth.

"I don't want to hear it," he muttered. "I don't get what's going on here, but it doesn't make sense and I'm way too tired to try to piece it together right now. I don't know what your game is, but if you really can use a persona, and you really are here to help us figure out what happened to Yu, then I need something more than just your word."

They drove back to Junpei's house in silence, and Yosuke left her on the front step before taking his car and going home. Minako felt stupid and angry. She'd tried to help him, she'd tried to do the right thing. If only she'd had her evoker with her, she could have shown him. She'd have to see if she could find one, or ask if any of the other still had theirs lying around. Once he saw her use her persona, Yosuke would know that she really was the only one who could help him find out the truth.

**That same evening, at Yosuke's house…**

As soon as he got home, Yosuke called up the Amagi Inn again. This time, he had to ask two or three people before he finally got Yukiko on the phone.

"Yosuke-kun, it's really late," she said, sounding embarrassed. "People are going to start getting the wrong idea about us."

"Forget about that," he told her, "there's something I need you to do for me. You know those guys I told you about? The ones who are coming to stay tonight at the inn? Yeah, well, I want you to keep an eye on them. Something really strange happened tonight, and I think it might have something to do with Yu's death. "

"What? Are you serious?" Yukiko was shocked.

"Yeah, definitely. And you might want to sit down for this." Carefully, Yosuke recounted everything that Minako had said to him that night.


	9. Chapter Eight

**Author's Note: **Haha, well, **AbyssOfMemories**, to be fair, if Yosuke had said something like "hey, guess what, there's a world inside the TV that only persona users can get into, and it's created from human minds and hearts, so let's go check it out," Minako might have believed him. Instead, he just said "go inside that TV." If only he'd explained himself better, everything might have worked out. Except for course, it wouldn't have, because…well, you'll see why soon enough. Anyway, 2 to 1 it is! AHA! Even the minor victories matter.

A question for you all: It's 11:10 at night, my entire body is screaming out for sleep. I have to be up for work at 5:00 AM in the morning, and yet for some reason, I'm up writing fanfic. Is it possible to get addicted to fanfiction writing, do you think? Like, are there any documented cases of this? Just curious.

Anyway, without further ado, please be warned. This chapter is pretty safe, but the next couple of chapters will involve some suggestively sexual stuff. Nothing explicit, mind, but you'll definitely find it if you look for it. After that we'll go ahead and do some fight scenes.

Sound like fun? It will be, I promise.

**Chapter Eight**

At midnight, Yosuke, Yukiko, Chie, Kanji, Rise, and Naoto were all hunkered down in Yukiko's bedroom, having an emergency meeting.

"It feels kind of strange," whispered Yukiko, "staking out the Amagi Inn."

"Yeah, with Yukiko's parents in the next room," agreed Chie, "it feels less like a stakeout, and more like a slumber party. Hey, do you think we can get snacks?"

"Shut up about the snacks!" Yosuke was serious. "This isn't a joke. There's something really suspicious about that girl, we have to stay focused."

"Jeez, I was just trying to lighten the mood," insisted Chie. "I can't help it. It's so lonely, thinking about how…"

"Please, don't say it." Rise sighed.

"…how Yu would have been here with us," finished Chie. "I mean, he used to love this investigation stuff. He was always the first one to have a great plan. I miss him."

No one said anything for a moment. Each person was lost in his or her own gloomy thoughts or memories, until Kanji finally broke the silence.

"Um, hey, senpai? What exactly is the plan, anyway? We just gonna sit around here all night and hope that they confess to something real loud, so we can hear them?"

Yosuke shook his head. "Of course not. Listen, here's what we're going to do. There are four rooms, with two people in each room. It's a welcome home party, so they're probably gonna be moving back and forth and hanging out, right? I want one person stationed outside each room, and one of us at each of the hot springs. That way, we'll know everything that's going on, and we can report back tomorrow morning with our findings."

"Ew," muttered Rise, "we're going to spy on them in the hot springs? Isn't that basically sexual harassment?"

"Yes, that does seem a little extreme," admitted Naoto. "Standing and listening outside the bedrooms is definitely disturbing enough without resorting to watching them in the bath."

"It's not spying!" Yosuke was getting frustrated. "It's…it's reconnaissance."

"Um, isn't that the same thing?" interjected Chie.

Yosuke ignored her, determined to finish his thought. "We're going to stick to the plan, exactly the way I said. Kanji, you and Yukiko will hide out next to the guys' rooms."

"What? Me?" Yukiko was horrified. "But…I'm not a guy."

"It doesn't matter," said Yosuke, "you're an employee…sort of. If anyone sees you, it'll just look like you're delivering tea, or something. You can figure it out."

"Delivering tea? After midnight?" Yukiko squeaked.

"Or whatever else you can think of." Yosuke pushed on through his speech. "Chie, Rise, you'll be outside the girls' rooms. Naoto, you'll be there when it's the girls' turn to use the springs, and I'll be there when it's the guys' turn. Don't you dare make any stupid jokes about that, either, okay? Look, this could be our big chance to find out the truth about what happened to Yu. I'm not gonna miss it, and I'm not gonna let any of you screw this up because you didn't take it seriously."

He glared around meaningfully at each of them, and waited for everyone to nod their understanding.

"But…Yosuke, what if they don't know anything? What if this is all for nothing?" Chie sounded uncertain.

Yosuke didn't meet her eyes. "Then at least we did something," he told her. "We have to do something. I can't sit around doing nothing and letting life just go on around me anymore. I feel useless, and…" He trailed off, then took a deep breath and began again. "Anyway, we owe it to Yu. He would have done it for us."

"Then," asked Naoto, quietly, "are we all sure that we understand the plan?"

**Meanwhile**, **in Minako and Yukari's room…**

"Wow." Yukari was standing the center of the bedroom, staring around at the artwork on the walls. "This place is perfect! I do not even want to ask what Mitsuru-san had to pay for it. Can you believe it? What a way to welcome you home! I hate to say it, but Junpei really had a great idea this time."

"Yeah, he did." Minako tried to sound enthusiastic, but her heart wasn't in it. She was worried about the things she'd said to Yosuke before they'd left for the inn. If he hadn't believed her at all, then nothing bad could happen, right? After all, if he didn't even think she was telling the truth, why would he spend any time worrying about it? In retrospect, spilling everything to him like that had probably been a terrible idea. At the time, though, it had seemed like the brave way out. Now, she just felt foolish.

"Hey, are you listening?" Yukari sat down next to Minako on the floor. "You're really quiet. Did something happen back at the house? This is your party! If you're not having a good time, then what's the point?"

"I'm sorry," Minako mumbled. "I'm not trying to bring you down."

Yukari snorted. "Bring me down? What are you talking about? Mina-chan, you're back! That's what matters. I can't remember the last time I was this happy." Reaching out , she passed one arm around Minako's shoulders, and gave her a friendly little squeeze. "Everything's gonna go back to normal, now. Okay, maybe not 'normal,' but at least the way it always should have been. You'll see, it's going to be wonderful."

Minako was absolutely sure that things were not going to go back to 'normal'. She didn't remember ever having had a 'normal,' and so she wasn't even sure what it would feel like. Either way, this was definitely not it.

"Oh, I get it." Yukari must have seen the look on her face, because she nodded, and bit her lip. "It's Akihiko-san, right? Listen, Minako, boys are idiots. He's probably just shocked because you're back. Just give him some time; I know he really is happy to see you. It just wasn't something he ever expected. Sometimes too much happiness can be a little scary, right? When my fiancé proposed to me, and I said yes, he didn't talk to me for three days because he couldn't figure out what to do next, now that he'd popped the question! I had to call him on it! Isn't that ridiculous?"

Dutifully, Minako laughed.

"There, that's better." Yukari smiled. "You should get some sleep. Everyone feels better after a good night's sleep, and you can't have been that comfortable last night, sleeping on Junpei's couch!"

"Actually," said Minako, "I'm gonna go and see if I can get a glass of water. I'll be right back."

"Okay," agreed Yukari. "Just don't get lost."

Minako stood up and walked out into the hallway. She was wearing a pair of red pajamas that Yukari had lent her, which was a welcome change from that old school uniform that had probably begun to smell by now. She'd have to ask Junpei about doing some laundry when she got back to the house.

Thinking of Junpei reminded her that he was rooming with Akihiko, and she suddenly realized that, for the first time, she might have the chance to talk to Akihiko alone, away from everyone else. They hadn't really had the opportunity to spend any private time together since he'd arrived at the house that morning, and it wasn't as though he'd never seen her out of her day clothes before.

The more she thought about, the more she liked the idea, and in only a few moments she had started off down the hallway towards the two rooms occupied by the boys. It was dark enough that she wasn't too worried about being caught in the hallway by anyone else, and with any luck, Junpei would already be asleep when she came in. Even if he wasn't, Junpei knew how things were between her and Akihiko. He'd probably be gentleman enough to step out for a few minutes, long enough at least for them to have some time to talk.

It was just as Minako turned the corner near Akihiko's door that she heard the voice. It wasn't his voice, and it wasn't Junpei's In fact, it was definitely a woman's voice, and, as she got closer, Minako recognized it as Mitsuru's. The voice was low and urgent, and it was hard for Minako to hear what Mitsuru was saying. What she did hear, however, was Akihiko's reply.

"I can't," he said. "I doesn't feel right, and I hate that. I know it's been a long time. Maybe too long. Some things about the way I feel are never going to change, but people do. People do change, and we're different now. That's all I have to say about it."

Minako reached the door to Akihiko's room just in time to see Mitsuru standing with him the doorway, and to hear her say "We're not so different." Then, before Minako even had the chance to open her mouth to speak, she watched Mitsuru lean in and kiss Akihiko full on the lips.

Minako didn't run. She didn't burst into tears, or scream, or fling herself on the floor, or do any of the things that romantic heroines are supposed to do when they catch their boyfriends in compromising positions. Instead her heart in her mouth, she waited for Akihiko to pull away, to shove Mitsuru or to reprimand her.

Part of her knew he wouldn't. Part of her had known ever since she'd embraced her that morning that someone just wasn't the same. Instead of pushing Mitsuru away, Akihiko leaned in to the kiss for a moment, then broke it off and muttered, unconvincingly, "don't do that."

Minako had seen enough. Quietly, so as not to let anyone know she had been there, she began to move back through the hallway towards her own room. As she went, she almost thought that she heard a voice from the shadows murmur "Ouch…that sucks."


	10. Chapter Nine

**Author's Note:**

**Lionheart, **I'm so glad you're enjoying the story! I'll try to keep it fun for you! **Jenni Saba**, well, I suppose that makes sense, since Yosuke's shadow is just another part of him. Let's hope he snaps out of it, though…**Maudlin Blase**, wonder no more, cause here's the answer to one of the things you were wondering about in this story…

So, I got home tonight to discover that two exciting things had happened. First of all, "What Cannot Be Broken" has reached 20 reviews! All of you who have been reading are wonderful! HUZZAH! Do I hear 30? I think we can do it…Also, I was informed that a play that I wrote has been picked up by a theater company in DC, and that it will be a part of their season this year. What amazing news! In honor of these two exciting milestones, here is a chapter that I had way too much fun writing. WARNING: This chapter contains some low-key sexuality, and, as always when Shinjiro is involved, swearing.

**Chapter Nine**

Yosuke found himself having a hard time staying awake. It was already 1:00 in the morning, and he was crouched behind the door to the hot springs changing room, listening to Junpei and Ken having one of the most useless conversations he'd ever heard.

While Junpei was relaxing comfortably in the water, Ken seemed nervous . "Um, Junpei-san," he said, "don't you think it's a little late? I don't think we're supposed to be in here anymore."

"Eh, don't worry about it." Junpei shrugged. "Nobody's gonna bother us. The management is probably all asleep already, anyway.

"Oh, um, okay." Ken went silent again.

Yosuke was frustrated. So far, his carefully planned reconnaissance hadn't gotten him anywhere at all, and now he was exhausted and stuck watching two guys paddle around in the pool. The only suspicious thing that had come out of either of them all night was a surreptitious fart that Junpei had let off, which had been so noxious that Yosuke wasn't sure he ever wanted to go into the Amagi hot springs again.

Maybe, he thought, he had been wrong after all, and maybe these guys had nothing to do with Yu's death. They certainly didn't seem very threatening. If that was the case, though, then what had that Minako girl been talking about?

Just as Yosuke was getting ready to give up and let his eyes close for a few minutes, Ken finally said something that got his full attention.

"Hey, Junpei? Do you ever use your persona anymore?"

Junpei looked surprised. "Huh? Nah, course not. I mean, what would I use it for? All that stuff's over now. " He sighed. "It's kind of a waste, though, right? Why'd you ask?"

"No reason." Ken kicked one foot out of the water, making an awkward little splash as he brought it back down. "I was just thinking that maybe a persona might be good for helping get rid of bullies at school. I mean, if there were bullies. Just to scare them a little." Ken was staring at his knees, not meeting Junpei's eyes.

"Wait, is somebody picking on you at school? Junpei sloshed over to where Ken was sitting. "Seriously? Have you told Akihiko-san about it?"

"Oh, I told him.," muttered Ken. "He threatened to beat everyone up for me."

"Yeah," said Junpei, nodding sagely, "yeah, that won't work. A man's gotta take care of some things for himself, right?"

"Right," agreed Ken.

"So, about the persona…" Junpei continued thoughtfully. "I don't think that's a good idea. I mean, I'm no expert on morals, or anything, but I don't' think they're supposed to be used that way. You know what you could do, though? Try this."

Junpei kept talking, but Yosuke couldn't hear the rest of what he said. So, he thought, they really were persona users after all. Then…what exactly did that mean?

**Meanwhile, outside the boys' rooms…**

Minako wasn't sure where to go. Talking with Akihiko was now out of the question, and she didn't much like the idea of going back to the room to face Yukari either, after everything that had happed. Yukari would try to be cheerful about it, and for all of her good intentions that would probably only make the situation worse. Minako didn't want to be cheerful, and she didn't want to hear about how it would all work out in the end. She wanted to be miserable and to feel sorry for herself for a few minutes. After all, she thought, everyone should be entitled to that now and again, and this seemed like a very appropriate time.

"They've all left me behind," she said out loud, in a voice that came out sounding hoarse and quiet in the stillness of the corridor. Time had stopped for her, but for everyone else it had kept going, and she had become a fond memory, something to look back on and to smile. She was a piece of nostalgia now, not a real person at all. She didn't have a place with these people anymore.

Akihiko had told her that he'd loved her. She'd believed him at the time, and part of her still did, but…wasn't love supposed to be something that lasted forever? What had happened to all the stories of men and women who had died still loving the same high school sweetheart that they'd confessed to sixty years before? Wasn't real love timeless? Akihiko had said that it was real. Minako had felt that it was real.

"But," she told herself, "if it was real love, then how could he forget about it?"

If only, she wished, for the hundredth time that day, she had managed to come back sooner. If only she had never died at all. Then Akihiko would never have had time to forget her. Nothing would have had time to change between them.

Of course, if she hadn't died, then the world would have ended. No one would have been able to remember anything. The horrible, unworthy thought crossed her mind that at least, in that case, he never would have been able to love anybody else. Disgusted with herself, Minako pushed that thought as far away from her conscious as possible.

It occurred to her that this must be how Shinjiro had felt when he'd woken up from his coma. It hadn't been three years, but even in only a few months the world had gone on without him. She, of course, had gone on without him. Why had she done that? Was she scared? Was she lonely? Or had she forgotten him, too, after all?

Minako knew that couldn't be right. She hadn't forgotten him. She remembered him still, remembered and relished even the very few moments that they had been able to spend together. Even now, Shinjiro hadn't forgotten her. Just that morning, he'd said that he'd wait for her. To him, she was still real. Right now, Minako wanted, more than anything, to be with someone who would make her feel real.

Without really thinking about what she was doing, she crept a few feet down the hall to where Shinjiro and Ken's room was. For some reason, the door to the room was open, and Ken was nowhere to be seen. Shinjiro, still awake, was lying on his back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling, with a blank expression on his face.

Minako cleared her throat.

Shinjiro looked up. When he saw her, his eyes widened, and he stared for a moment before he managed to say "What the hell are you doing? Don't you have any sense? You shouldn't be creeping up to guy's bedrooms in the middle of the night." Reddening slightly, he asked, "and what are you wearing?"

Minako looked down. It was true that the pajama top she was wearing was a little bit too tight across her chest, showing off perhaps more of her bust line than she would have liked. Still, she wasn't about to tell Yukari that her chest was the wrong size.

"Oh, I get it." Shinjiro's voice had turned cold. "You're looking for Aki's room, right? You're in the wrong place. He's down the hall to the left."

"I know that," said Minako.

"Oh yeah?" Shinjiro didn't seem to want to look directly at her. "Then what do you want?"

It was a difficult question. Minako didn't exactly know why she'd come. She'd been thinking about him, and then it had just seemed like the best place to go. Maybe she just wanted someone to make her feel like she was still alive. Shinjiro had made her feel that way when he'd put his arms around her in the street outside Junpei's house. Maybe she wanted him to make her feel that way again.

"I just want to see you," she said, finally.

Swinging his legs around to the end of the bed, and faced her. "Why?"

"Um," asked Minako, "may I come in?"

"No," Shinjiro gave her a hard look, a look she recognized from the days in the dorm before she'd known him very well. It was his inscrutable look. "You should get out of here."

She didn't listen. Instead, she took a step into the room, and heard Shinjiro's sharp intake of breath as she did so.

"I thought I made it pretty obvious how I feel about you," he told her. "It's not right for you to be here, with me, alone like this."

"It's not the first time," Minako reminded him.

"Don't you think I know that?" Suddenly, Shinjiro was angry. "Don't you think I think about it every time I see you? Hell, I think about it every time I'm alone at night. "

He looked pained for a moment, and Minako felt a stab of guilt inside. There was something other than guilt as well, something more subtle, but fiercer. She wanted to reach out to him, to get rid of the pain and the person who had caused it. She wanted to get rid of herself.

"I'm sorry," she murmured.

"Tch. Save it," he snarled. "You pitying me only makes it worse."

Shinjiro turned away from her, but Minako wasn't ready to back down. Walking over to the bed, she reached a hand out to touch his. Instantly, he recoiled, and sat glaring at her.

"What do you want?" he asked again.

"I don't know," she admitted.

Shinjiro sighed. "Listen," he muttered. "You've gotta understand. I'm not like Aki, and I'm not like you. I'm not confused. I've made up my mind. I know what I want, and it's you. It's…god, it's been you for years. You did something to me, it's too late to go back now. It's never gonna be anybody else. Not for me. For years I had nothing, and I knew I wasn't ever gonna have anything. Now you're back, and I can't have you. It's enough to drive a guy insane."

Even here, thought Minako, even with Shinjiro, all I've done is make things worse. All I've done is cause trouble for everyone. For Akihiko, for Junpei, for Shinjiro…

"Maybe it would be better if I'd never come back," she said, more to herself than to him.

"Wha-? How did you get that from what I said?" Shinjiro was staring. "That's not true. Don't make that face, I…aw, shit."

Suddenly, Shinjiro had his hands wrapped around Minako's waist, and he was kissing her roughly and urgently, his mouth moving hard against hers, parting her lips. He pulled her up on to the bed, and pressed his fingers into her lower back, forcing her tightly against him. "Don't say stuff like that," he muttered. "I don't want to hear you say that shit."

Minako closed her eyes as he dragged her pajama top up over her head, and then pressed his mouth to hers again, then to her collarbone and shoulder. He was holding her so close that it was getting hard to breathe, but somehow she didn't feel like trying to move away.

His hand was fumbling with the drawstring on her shorts when it suddenly stopped and dropped to his side. With one deep outgoing breath, Shinjiro pressed her back on to the bed, and leaned his burning hot cheek against her forehead. Everything was still for a moment. "Forget it," he breathed. "Damnit, we're not doing this."

Minako's heart was still beating alarmingly fast. Trying hard not to sound too disappointed, she asked, "You don't want to?"

Shinjiro's jaw dropped open. "A-are you stupid? Of course I want to, I just…I don't want to with Aki's girl. I want…ugh. You still don't get it."

With an effort, he forced his body to relax, and released his grip on Minako. Taking off his shirt, he threw it to her. "Here, put this on. It'll keep you warmer than that thing you were wearing before."

Embarrassed, Minako turned away from him while she shrugged on the shirt. Her face was hot, and she re-tied her drawstring while she was climbing back out of the bed. Shinjiro's hand on her arm stopped her just as she was about to make a bolt for the door.

"I didn't say you had to leave," he said. "C'mere. Just…stay here with me for a bit. I don't' care if you're thinking about him. Just…stay."


	11. Chapter Ten

**Author's Note: **Unfortunately, there seems to be something wrong with my computer. Random words and even full sentences keep deleting themselves, or appearing somewhere else in the text. Sometimes, a letter will simply not appear no matter how many times I push the keys, implying a problem with the keyboard as well. I am not tech savvy, and I do not know why this is happening. Please bear with me, and I apologize for any uncaught typos in this document.

Thanks for your patience,

Ari Moriarty

**Chapter Ten**

Yukiko and Chi ran up to Yosuke as he was coming back from the hot springs. Chie looked excited, and Yukiko's face was bright red.

"Hey, Yosuke!" Chie called. "While Yukiko was watching that scary guy's room, he-!"

"Come on, keep it down!" Yosuke clapped a hand over Chie's mouth, and she spluttered indignantly into his hand. "Get it through your head, we're trying to be discreet about this!" Removing his hand carefully from angry Chie's face, he asked "Yukiko, what happened with Shinjiro-san?"

"Well…" Yukiko was clearly mortified. "I waited outside his room, just the way you told me. Around one o'clock, Minako-chan came in. They had an argument, and then, they…" trailing off, she bit her lip. "I can't say it. I was so embarrassed, listening in like that…I have to go wash my ears to clean out what I heard."

"Wait, they…seriously?" Now it was Yosuke's turn to be shocked. "What did she…no, nevermind. But, wait, I thought that Minako was with Akihiko-san."

"Ooh," interjected Chie helpfully, "but I saw Mitsuru-san walking towards Akihiko-san's room not twenty minutes before that!"

"What is wrong with these people?" Yosuke shook his head. "It's like a cheesy soap opera in here."

Chie nodded. "Yeah, something like this happened on 'All My Lovers' just the other night. Momoko found out that her sister, Reiko, was really seeing Ryu-kun behind her back, and then…" Noticing the puzzled look on Yukiko's face, she stopped. "What?"

"Um…that just doesn't seem like your kind of television show," Yukiko admitted.

Chie looked at her feet. "Uh, it's not, obviously," she muttered. "Kanji must have told me what happened, or something. That's right, it was Kanji."

"Hey, focus." Yosuke pushed all thoughts of soap operas and scandalous rendezvous out of his mind. "Listen to this. I think they really are all persona users. I heard the guys talking about it in the hot springs. "

"What? Did they say anything about Yu?" asked Yukiko.

"No, but, trust me." Yosuke was deadly serious. "If they know anything about what happened, I know how to get it out of them."

"We could probably just ask them," suggested Chie. "I mean, that girl Minako seemed pretty eager to spill everything, right? She'd probably open right up."

"No, that won't work." Yosuke couldn't explain why, but he felt instinctively like something was wrong with Minako. Her story had been weird enough, but he was used to weird stories. It was more the way she had told him the story than what she had actually said. Something had just felt off about the whole thing. "They're hiding something."

"If you say so," muttered Yukiko. She and Chie exchanged a look, but Yosuke ignored it.

"What we're gonna do," he went on, "is invite them into the TV world tomorrow. If they're all persona users, then they can get in without being attacked by their shadows. Once we're all inside, we'll have Teddie close the entrance, and they won't be able to get out. If they want us to let them leave, they'll have to tell us the truth."

Yukiko stared. "What? No, we can't do that!"

"Yeah," agreed Chie, "that's pretty much kidnapping."

Yosuke shrugged. "I know it is," he said. He didn't care. At least, he thought, it wasn't murder. If these people had anything to do with Yu's death, then…well, he could worry about that later.

"So," he asked, "are you in or not?"

**Meanwhile, in Shinjiro's room…**

Minako and Shinjiro were lying next to each other on the bed, in the midst of an uncomfortable silence. Minako had stopped trying to figure out what to say. There were so many conflicting feelings and thoughts fighting for dominance in her head that it seemed to make more sense just to keep quiet and listen to Shinjiro breathe. The sound relaxed her a little, and she couldn't figure out why. Maybe it was because his silence gave her space for her own thoughts.

After a while, however, Shinjiro's breathing turned into coughing, and he doubled over on himself in the bed, his body racked with dry, raspy sounding coughs.

"Ugh, sorry," he muttered, after he'd managed to get his breath back. "My immune system is shit. Musta caught something."

Minako wondered guiltily if he'd gotten sick from the cold when she'd run out of Junpei's house, and he'd cased after her.

"I thought you'd gotten better," she said.

"Yeah, well…the damage was done." Shinjiro shifted against the pillows. "Can't take that back now."

"I'll make you some tea," she said. The room had a kettle and a teapot already prepared, and Minako got up and went over to it. She could feel Shinjiro watching her heat the water and pour the tea. When she turned and handed him a steaming cup, he looked at the tea, and then at her with a strange, faraway expression on his face. As he accepted the cup, he wouldn't meet her eyes.

"Thanks," he muttered, and took a sip of the tea. Minako watched a shiver pass through him as he drank, but at least he seemed to have stopped coughing.

"Never thought I'd be the sickly kid," he said, with a half-smile starting on his face. "Heh. Didn't think I'd live long enough."

Minako, who remembered very well when the doctor's had told her that he would never wake up, winced. "I'm glad you did," she said.

Another long moment of silence passed between them before Shinjiro asked, abruptly, "Do you love him?"

"What?" Minako assumed he meant Akihiko. "Of course, I…" she began. Unbidden, an image of Akihiko kissing Mitsuru floated into her mind.

"Nevermind," Shinjiro grunted. "Forget it. Not a fair question." He reached over to the stand near the bed, and grabbed at a napkin that he'd used when the coughing had begun.

Minako hadn't noticed it before, but there was something that looked like a gun lying next to that napkin. "Shinji," she said, "is that an evoker?"

"Huh? Yeah, obviously. What else would it be?' He wiped his mouth with the napkin. "I don't own a gun. Persona's better anyway."

Minako picked it up and held it in front her thoughtfully. "Why do you have it?"

Shiniro sighed. "Never know when I might need it. The world's full of stuff uglier and meaner than shadows. Can't be too careful." After a moment, Minako thought she heard him say, under his breath, "Couldn't protect you the first time. I can't let that happen again."

She wasn't sure exactly why she did it. It wasn't something she thought consciously about doing. As Minako held the evoker up to her temple, she heard Shinjiro cry out in surprise. Just after she pulled the trigger, he reached over her and grabbed it out of her hand, tossing it down on the bed.

"What are you doing?" he asked angrily. "Not here!"

Minako, however, wasn't listening. "It didn't work," she whispered. Completely oblivious to Shinjiro's protests, she picked up the evoker and, again, shot herself in the head. Again, nothing happened. Frantically, she began to search around in her mind, looking for any trace of Orpheus, Tam Lin, Sandalphon, or any of the other personas that she knew she kept contained within her psyche. There was nothing there. She felt nothing at all, except for a sickeningly large pool of emptiness where her personas had once left their echo.

"They're gone," she said. "All gone. I can't find them." How hadn't she noticed before? It had been days she'd felt any sign of her personas. Caught up with everything that was going on in the real world, she hadn't even thought to check or to look for them.

"Try it again," said Shinjiro. He had an arm around her, holding her up. Minako realized that, in her panic, she had lost control and had almost toppled over off of the bed.

Again, she held the evoker to her head, and again she fired. There was nothing wrong with the evoker itself. It shot, and she felt the impact, but nothing else. There was nothing within her to respond to the gesture, and she let the evoker fall out of her hand. This time, it clattered to the floor, and neither of them bothered to pick it up.

"Why?" she whispered. "Why?"

Not too long after that, Minako went back to the room she was sharing with Yukari. Yukari, of course, was already asleep, and Minako collapsed on to the bed without even bothering to change back into her other pajama top.

She knew that she would visit the Velvet Room tonight in her dreams. She had to. There were questions that she had to ask.

**That night, in the Velvet Room…**

"Welcome to the Velvet Room," intoned Igor. He was again seated in the center of the room, with Margaret in a chair beside him. For the briefest of imperceptible moments, Minako and Margaret locked eyes, and Margaret nodded.

"My personas," demanded Minako. "Where are they?"

"You seem," Igor said, inscrutable as always, "to have lost your way."

"Why," insisted Minako, "have they been taken from me? Why has everything been taken from me?" She was shouting now, but she didn't care. The one thing that she'd known she could hold on to, the one thing that made her truly valuable in this new time, had been lost. She was angry, and she was frightened.

"Please, sit down," Igor invited her. He waved a hand, and a blue velvet chair materialized behind her. Without taking her eyes off of him, she sank into it.

"Your mind," continued Igor, "is full of turmoil. You have forgotten who you are, and your resolve is weakening, as are your bonds with those you love. You do not even know where your loyalties most strongly lie. The chaos within your heart leaves you no room for the storage of personas. They cannot exist where chaos reigns. You already know this."

"Please," Minako begged him. "Give them back to me."

"That is beyond my power to do." There was something almost disapproving of the way Igor was looking at her now. Was he allowed to look at her that way? Wasn't she his "valued guest?"

"There is hope," said Margaret. Both Igor and Minako turned to stare at her. "There is always hope, Minako Arisato. It is up to you to find the strength to regain your personas. It will be within yourself. Do not try to look for it anywhere else, or you will lose yourself there and be unable to find yourself again."

"Tell me how," begged Minako, but she knew eve as she spoke that the plea was hopeless. Igor and Margaret had already begun to fade away, and she was about to wake up in the real world.

Margaret's words echoed in the blurry dreamscape between sleep and waking. "Within yourself…"

Then, with a jolt, Minako woke up.


	12. Chapter Eleven

**Author's Note: **Oh thank goodness, the computer is at least sort of working. Honestly, what I'd do if I lost my word processor, I don't know…I have so much grad school homework…which, of course, is not what I'm doing right now.

By the way, as you can probably tell by now, there will not be a lot of MinakoxAkihiko in this story. If you want to read some good MinakoxAkihiko, check out **Maudlin Blase ! **I'd particularly recommend her short story "Not Another Goodbye." Be warned, it's a tear-jerker.

Now, don't get too angry at the investigation team during this chapter. Remember, everybody has more than one side to their personality, and grief can bring out the worst in people. Or, in some cases, the best.

**Chapter Eleven**

Minako almost got stuck riding back to Junpei's house packed into a car with Akihiko, Shinjiro, and Ken. At the last minute, she begged Junpei to let her take Mitsuru's place in his car, and Junpei, being the hero that he was, asked Mitsuru to make the switch. Mitsuru gave Minako a sharp look when Junpei asked, but agreed to it readily enough. Junpei, Yukari, and Minako ended up going back together.

"Wow, what a night." It was a particularly foggy day, and Junpei seemed to be having a hard time focusing on the road. "I don't think I slept more than an hour. Couldn't let Ken stay up later than me. After all, I'm the adult around here."

"That's a scary thought," yawned Yukari. "You, an adult…Ken's more mature than most of us, any day."

"Yeah," agreed Junpei, "that's probably true. Still, it'd help if he'd get a little taller. He still looks like a kid."

Yukari turned a suspicious look on Minako. "You," she teased, "were out awfully late last night. Honestly, I don't' remember you coming back in, I was already asleep."

"Oooh, Mina –tan!" Junpei was grinning all over his face. "Making up for lost time, huh? Well, can't say I blame you. Sheesh, I need a girlfriend."

Minako wondered what had happened to Chidori, that Strega girl whom Junpei had been head over heels for at Gekkoukan. She thought about asking, but this was definitely not the time. She'd ask later, maybe when she and Junpei were alone. Somehow, she got the feeling it might not be a happy story. Chidori, after all, hadn't been a very happy girl.

"But the question is," Yukari was saying, "what girlfriend out there could possibly need you?"

It felt good to be back with Yukari and Junpei, Minako reflected. It gave her a chance to take her mind, just for a short while, off of the nightmare of losing her personas. At least the two of them didn't seem to have changed very much. Sure, they were both older and a little bit wiser, even Junpei, but they were still throwing cheerful insults back and forth as though they were back in high school. Yukari seemed happier than she had been before, with the dark mystery of her father's death behind her, and a new life with a new husband stretched out in front of her. Junpei…well, honestly, Junpei was just Junpei. Maybe that was what Minako loved about him.

"Well, Minako? You're not even going to deny it?" Yukari was looking at her again, and Minako pulled herself out of her reflections long enough to remember that they were talking about her.

"It's not," she said truthfully, "what you think."

"Are you sure? Cause you'd be amazed what I can think," said Junpei.

Yukari almost gagged on a laugh. "Oh lord, I probably wouldn't."

Junpei's car turned the corner, and began to pull up in front of his house. There was already another car there, and Minako's heart began sinking again when she saw that it was Yosuke's. Yosuke himself was standing on the curb, leaning up against the car, and he wasn't the only one. There were four girls there, and another guy, as well, all of whom Minako remembered from the news program about Yu Narukami's death.

"Huh? What're they doing here?" asked Junpei. "Feeling guilty about not taking me up on my offer last night?"

"I think we should go," began Minako, but Junpei was already stopping the car and opening the door.

"Hey," he called to Yosuke, "what's up? We missed you at the party. It was totally awesome. You weren't wrong about the inn being a great place for a celebration."

"He doesn't look very happy," murmured Yukari, glancing at the grimace on Yosuke's face. "Come on." Together, she and Minako got out of the car and went to join Junpei on the curb.

"So?" asked Junpei, looking around at the Yu's assembled friends. "Can I do something for you? There's a lot of people over right now, but we can probably fit in a few more, if you-!"  
"Nah, that's okay." Yosuke was looking at Minako, even as he answered Junpei's question. "Actually, can you come with us to Junes? We want to show you something."

Two of the girls with Yosuke were whispering to each other and looking worried. Minako tried to hear what they were saying, but it was no good.

"Um, sure! Is there a sale going on, or something? Hey, do you guys fix TV remotes,? Because I think Akihiko-san broke mine when he was trying to get Yuka-tan to change over to the sports channel."

By this time, Akihiko's car had pulled up behind them, and now he, Shinjiro, Mitsuru, and Ken were all standing out on the curb as well.

"You should all come," said Yosuke, gesturing in their direction. "Seriously, you're not going to want to miss this. It's pretty spectacular."

Getting back into their cars, the whole group drove over to Junes. Yosuke led them through the aisles of the electronics department until they came again, to the same giant TV that he had shown Minako the night before. A cold feeling went down her spine, and she very briefly considered the possibility of making a run for it. That, of course, was out of the question. She'd created this mess through what she'd seen at the time as an act of heroism, and now she'd have to stick it out, to make sure that everyone else was okay. What had Yosuke said, about going inside the television? What had he meant by all that, anyway?

"It's a nice TV," Junpei was saying, tapping it on the side with his fingers. "A little expensive for me, though, aheh. I don't, uh, get a bonus this year because of all the extra sick days I took from Daidara-san. Still, maybe next year. Of course, it'll probably be obsolete already by then."

Minako noticed, only a second or two too late, that the muscular blond boy with the tattoos had come up behind Junpei, and had both arms out in front of him. "Hey!" she called out, but before she had the chance to say another word, the blond boy was pushing Junpei into the television monitor.

She expected to hear the impact of Junpei's face on the screen, and was already moving towards him to catch him if he fell backwards. Instead, Junpei fell face forward through the TV screen, and he disappeared from sight.

"What the-" began Akihiko angrily, but then he, too, was shoved into the screen by the blond boy. Two of the girls had Mitsuru by each arm, and were in the process of throwing her inside. Ken was kicking and shouting as Yosuke tossed him into the television, and Yukari was had already disappeared, apparently even before Minako had noticed what was happening. At a loss for what to do, she ran forward, and put her hands up to the screen. It didn't yield, but was firm and glassy before her.

"Where are they?" she screamed at Yosuke, as he friends began to step one by one through the screen and into the TV set. "What did you do to them? Bring them back! I'm the one you want, not them!"

"Don't worry, you're coming too," insisted Yosuke. Grabbing her wrist in a painful grip, he stepped into the television, and pulled her along behind him.

Everything went temporarily dark, and then the world began to spin. Minako was nauseous when she hit the ground, but managed to pull herself together enough to scramble to her feet and look around. Slowly, all of her friends were doing the same thing, brushing themselves off and staring wide-eyed at the unfamiliar surroundings. They seemed unharmed, if confused and angry.

They were all in some kind of a bright, open area, with TV recording equipment lying around here and there. Off to one side was a bridge that led…well, somewhere. From where she stood, Minako couldn't see what was on the other side.

The strangest piece of the entire scene, however, was the animal that was standing only a few feet from where she'd fallen. It was probably a bear. At least, it was something that was trying very hard to look like a bear. With blue fur and eyes the size of deluxe soup plates, it looked like a badly designed plushie that had come to life.

"Let go of me," Yukari was shrieking, flailing one arm at a pretty, dark-haired girl who had her by the wrist. The dark haired girl dropped Yukari readily enough, and Yukari instantly ran to Minako's side.  
"Are you okay?" she asked.

Minako nodded. "How about you?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," insisted Yukari. "What is going on? Did we really just get shoved inside a television? Or did it just look like a TV?"

"It's definitely a TV," said Yosuke.

Minako's friends were looking at each other, confused, checking to make sure that no one was hurt. Everyone was on their feet now, and all eyes were turned on Yosuke, who was standing in the center of his co-conspirators.

"What the hell, man?" asked Junpei. "Is this some kind of joke? You're creeping me out."

"It's not a joke." Yosuke crossed his arms over his chest and put on a menacing expression. "We know that you're persona users, so don't pretend that you don't know what's going on."

He glanced over his shoulder at the friends he'd brought with him, but only the blond haired boy seemed to be paying attention. The girls, on the other hand, were all either staring at their feet, or looking nervously into the faces of Minako's friends.

"Uh," continued Yosuke, apparently somewhat unsettled by his friends' reactions, "so, we know that you're persona users. This can't possibly be a coincidence. You just showed up here, conveniently, around the same time that Yu died? We don't buy it. You know something about Yu's death, and we're not gonna let you out of here until you tell us what it is."

"You're under a misapprehension," said Mitsuru, using her best, most rational tones of voice. "We don't know anyone who has died recently by the name of Yu, unless you are referring to that boy who has been all over the television recently. A very sad affair. I was sorry to hear about his death."

"Shut up!" Yosuke snarled at her. "Don't give me that stuff about being sorry about it. I don't want sorry, I want answers! I know you know something! You must…you must know something."

For a moment, Yosuke's glare wavered, and Minako recognized something in his face, something that she knew she'd last seen while staring into a mirror. He was lost and desperate, snatching at straws while he tried to do something, anything that would stop the pain.

"Yosuke-kun," she began, "I tried to tell you. They don't know anything about it, it's all…"

"It's not my fault," came a sniveling voice from somewhere behind Minako. The strange thing was, it sounded like her voice. No, that was wrong. It hadn't sounded like her voice, it had been her voice, even though she knew that she hadn't said those words.

"It's not my fault, I didn't mean to do anything to him! I'm not responsible for this!" Minako turned slowly around, and found herself staring into the face of…herself. The Minako standing behind her was cowering close to the ground, dressed in the same Gekkoukan uniform that Minako had been forced to put back on before getting into Junpei's car. She looked just like Minako, down to the cut of her jaw and the birthmark on her left wrist. The only thing that was obviously different was in the other Minako's eyes. They were yellow, slanted, menacing eyes, full of rage and emptiness at the same time. They were horrible eyes.

As Minako stared at her, she kept speaking. "Maybe this is the way it's supposed to be. After all, I saved the world, I made the ultimate sacrifice! Isn't it my turn to have a happy ending? Isn't it my turn to ride off into the sunset with my prince charming, so we can all live happily ever after? That's what's supposed to happen to the heroine at the end of the story. When does that happen for me? What if we just let this go? I didn't mean to hurt him. I just want to close my eyes and make it all go away. There's nothing that I can do anyway."

Yosuke's eyes were fixed on the other Minako, and he had clenched his shaking hands into a pair of fists. The dark-haired girl moved forward and put a hand on his shoulder, but he shook it off without even looking at her.

"Fate's a funny thing, you know," the other Minako was saying. "Sometimes it works in ways you'd never expect. This doesn't feel much like a happy ending, does it? Doesn't anyone love me anymore? I don't want to be a murderer. I don't want to make everyone sad. I don't want to make everyone angry. I think I…maybe I don't want to be anymore at all. Would that make you happy?"

"Who are you?" asked Minako, already knowing the answer to the question before the words even left her lips.

The yellow-eyed Minako gave her a pleading look. "I'm you," she whispered.


	13. Chapter Twelve

**Author's Note: Flowerchild77 ** and **dotorNAMU**, thanks for the kind words! Yes, we will be seeing more of Aigis. In fact, Aigis has a very important role to play in the later part of this story, but we won't see her for a long time yet. When you finally do see her, you'll understand why it took so long. **AbyssOfMemories**, hooray! I'm glad I'm keeping you guessing. Er, that is a good thing, right? **Jenni Saba**, yeah, the pace is picking up. It's crunch time for Minako!

Okay guys, we're coming to an important turning point in the story. I guess you could say that everything you've read up until now has been a sort of extended prologue, or a "part one." Now we're getting to the good stuff.

**So, here's where you come in. ** So far, other than Minako and Yosuke, these characters have appeared in this story: Junpei, Akihiko, Shinjiro, Mitsuru, Yukari, Ken, Yukiko, Chie, Kanji, Rise, and Naoto. Please tell me: which of these characters would you like to see more of? There's a big reason why I'm asking this question, and you'll see what that is in a couple of chapters.

Thanks for all the help!

**Chapter Twelve**

"And you," continued the yellow-eyed Minako, "are me. Can't you tell? Please don't deny it. Don't pretend you don't know how I feel. I need you to understand…to believe in me. Please!"

She didn't want to believe it. Her brain was screaming at her to deny it, to refuse it, rejecting every word that came out of the yellow-eyed Minako's mouth. At the same time, however, she remembered what she had said to Junpei on day of her revival. She'd said those same words, had felt those same feelings. "I need you to believe in me," she mouthed.

The yellow-eyed Minako smiled a sheepish little smile. "You do understand,' she said. "Of course you do."

Dimly, Minako was aware that the tattooed boy was approaching the other Minako, gripping a folding chair in both hands. He was just raising it, prepared, apparently, to slam the other Minako over the head, when Yosuke's voice rang out harsh and cold in the hush that had fallen over the group.

"Leave her alone," he said. "Let her talk. I want to hear this."

The tattooed boy backed off, and yellow-eyed Minako seemed not even to have noticed the danger. Instead, her eyes remained locked on Minako's. "Elizabeth and Theodore did it," she said. "It was their idea to start looking for me, to try and find a way to free me. Without them, I'd still be locked into the seal. They're the reason Narukami died. They sacrificed him to bring me back; I don't know how. I didn't know what they were planning, I didn't even know Narukami existed. I'm just an innocent bystander, it's Elizabeth and Theodore's fault, not mine."

"Why," asked Yosuke, "did he die? Why did Yu have to die?"

Yellow-eyed Minako shrugged. "Because someone had to be the sacrifice. It was supposed to be me, but…once I was free, it had to be someone else. I don't know why Yu makes a good sacrifice. I don't know anything. Why are you asking me all these questions? I can't tell you any more! Stop asking me!"

Without warning, yellow-eyed Minako's wheedling tone turned sharp and hostile, and she spun to glare at Yosuke, a dark, menacing aura beginning to surround her whole body. Minako could feel the powerful, negative energy coming off of her doppleganger's form. Not thinking about why she did it, but just knowing that she had to distract her other self somehow, Minako called out desperately to the yellow-eyed girl, "But you're wrong! It is your fault! Narukami never would have died if it weren't for you."

"No…that's not true." For the moment, the ploy seemed to have worked. The other Minako abandoned Yosuke, and turned back to meet Minako's eyes. "You know that can't be true. I don't deserve all this guilt, do I? For something I had no control over? What could I have done?"

"What the hell is this?" Shinjiro stepped forward, his hand on the evoker that he stuffed into his pocket. He stared back and forth in between other Minako and Yosuke, apparently unable to decide which of the two was the more immediate enemy. Other Minako rested her eyes scornfully on him.

"And you," she said. "You're the biggest hypocrite of all, acting all miserable and pathetic because I didn't choose you, and I moved on without you. You say I don't understand, but you're the one who doesn't get it! You left me. You're the one who left me!"

Shinjiro froze. "Wha-?" he began, but then couldn't seem to find the words to finish the thought. Other Minako advanced on him, an accusing note in her shrill voice.

"I was there, I saw the whole thing," she went on. "You didn't try to dodge the gunshot. You didn't even want to survive! Right before he shot you, you looked at me and you said 'Minako, don't cry!'" Do you know why you said that? Because you knew, you knew that you were leaving, and that you were never coming back. How can you accuse me of going on without you, when you're the one who decided to slip away from me? Where were you when I wanted you?"

Apparently losing interest in Shinjiro, other Minako turned her attention to Akihiko. Akihiko, now scowling darkly at Shinjiro, didn't seem to realize at first that he was the person being addressed.

"You were my hero," other Minako told him. Her voice was softer now, less shrill, but somehow angrier and colder at the same time. "The one person that I knew that I knew would always be there for me. What happened to that? Where is the love that you promised me? You wouldn't wait for me. It's not my fault that I had to leave. I didn't want to go, I didn't even know that I was going! Why couldn't you understand that?"

Akihiko bit his lip and took a deep breath, gazing guiltily down at the ground. "It was never supposed to work out like this," he muttered.

"Stop it," whispered Minako. It was quiet, barely audible, but somehow the other Minako must have heard. She looked puzzled for a moment, and then a faint gleam of what looked like satisfaction flashed in her terrible eyes.

"Why? Isn't this what you've always wanted to say? I'm just trying to help them understand that you can't be held responsible for the things that they've done to you. Why does everyone seem to think that you're the one making all the mistakes, when they've been betraying and ignoring you since the beginning? You're lost. You're confused. There's nothing you can do about that on your own."

Minako shook her head. "You're wrong," she began.

"Oh? You mean you don't want to tell them?" asked the yellow-eyed Minako.

"No. I know these feelings are real. I know when I'm thinking and feeling stuff like this, but that doesn't matter. You're wrong about there being nothing I can do." Minako took a deep breath. She was conscious of the faces of her friends all around her, watching her, waiting to see what she'd do next. It was infuriating and invigorating at the same time.

"This can't be how we live our life," she said. "I know that it feels sometimes like there's no other choice, but we can't just wait around for everyone to do things for us, or for things to happen to us or to act on us. That's not really living. If we're going to be real, if we're going to be alive then we have to take control of that life."

Other Minako said nothing for a moment. The gleam in her eyes had died away, and Minako knew that the pleading expression on her other self's face was probably reflected just as strongly on her own.

"Don't be scared," said Minako. "I'll never leave you. I won't forget you, ever again. We'll turn this around and make it right together."

Slowly, the yellow-eyed Minako nodded, once. A surging, powerful calm came over Minako, and as her other self faded away, she saw a faint sparkling in the air around her. Something felt heavy in the pocket of her jacket, and when she reached inside, she found a glittering card that didn't look like it was made of any kind of paper or cardstock that Minako had ever seen. It was a tarot card, and on it, something was printed in the familiar lettering that she'd come to recognize as the sign of persona.

"Izanagi," she read out loud. "The fool."

"Ah." A serious looking, androgynously dressed girl who had come in with Yosuke approached Minako and examined the card in her hand. "The same persona that Yu once carried. This cannot, I feel, be a coincidence."

"Is it true?" Yosuke hadn't moved, but was staring at Minako, his eyes boring into her and sending a chill down the nape of her neck. "Are you the reason he's dead?"

Minako put the card back into her pocket, and went over to him. Everyone else in the area moved aside as she passed, until they'd created a sort of aisle down which she was facing Yosuke.

"This time," she promised him, "I am going to tell you everything."

Starting from the beginning, when she had arrived at Iwatodai station on her first day as a Gekkoukan student, Minako told Yosuke the story. He listened quietly and attentively, not interjecting or expressing any surprise at some of the stranger things she said, and she was grateful for that. He wasn't the only one listening, either. When she got to the part about the changing of the seal, about Elizabeth and Theodore's quest and about Margaret's plea, everyone in the room was giving her their full attention.

"That's what happened," she said when she'd finished. "I don't know anything else. I'm sorry."

Silence reigned around her. Some people were looking at each other, or staring at the ground, lost in thought. Yosuke was nodding quietly to himself, as if confirming some internal thoughts.

"Then," he finally muttered, iIt's not your fault. It's like you said, there wasn't anything you could have done. But…"

"But, you want him back," added Minako. "And you're going to fight to get him back."

Yosuke sighed. "Yeah." He said. "I don't care what it takes."

Junpei spoke up for the first time since the appearance of Minako's other self. "Hey," he interrupted, "wait, but…if he comes back, then, doesn't that mean that Minako will-?"

"I know," said Minako. "I'm going to help you bring him back. But there's something that I want you to promise me first."

"Anything," agreed Yosuke, without hesitation.

"I want," continued Minako, "for you to promise me that you'll never forget about him. No matter how long it takes, no matter what you have to do or how many things happen in the meantime, you need to promise that you'll never give up on him. He'll never be just a memory to you. To any of you." She addressed this last part to all of Yu's assembled friends, looking around and making each of them meet her eyes in turn. They all nodded their assent.

"I promise," said Yosuke. "He's my best friend. I…none of us could ever forget."

Yeah, thought Minako, that's what they all say. Out loud, she said, "okay. Then it's a deal. We work together to bring Yu Narukami back. No matter what it takes."

Even as she spoke, Minako could see Shinjiro out of the corner of her eye. There was a fierce expression on his face, defiant and dark, the same way she'd seen him look long ago when he'd forced himself in front of Ken , just in time to protect the boy from being murdered. With a pang, Minako turned her head away.

It was true, what she had told her other self. It was her job to take control of the world around her, in order to right the wrongs she was facing. Some things, however, even she couldn't change. Some sacrifices had to be made.


	14. Chapter Thirteen

**Author's Note: **Thanks to everyone who took the time to read , to review, and to encourage! **DotoriNAMU, Lionheart**. **Maudlin Blase **and **one-regret-103** have made character suggestions for the next few chapters, and I'm eager to hear from the rest of you!

Recently, you guys asked about the mysterious absence of Aigis. Well, you won't see her in this story for many chapters yet, but I did just read a story by **AbyssOfMemories** called "Crack Pairings" that puts Aigis in a very interesting pairing with Yosuke! I really liked it! Go ahead and check it out while you wait for Aigis to make her appearance in this fic.

**Chapter Thirteen**

"Let's go," said Minako, her words echoing around in the hush that had fallen over the assembled group. Even the bizarre plush bear was watching her expectantly. "There's someone we need to see."

"Who?" asked Yosuke.

"An old friend of Yu Narukami's." Minako looked around, sure that, somewhere in this strange place, she'd find the entrance that she was looking for. "She's the one who first told me about Elizabeth and Theodore's plans. She might be the only one who can tell us where to start looking for them."

Even before she finished her sentence, Minako's eyes fell on the door. It was the same exact kind of door that she'd once used in Iwatodai, at the Paulownia mall, to get in and out of the Velvet Room. There had been one at the entrance to Tartarus, as well, and so she had known there must be one here. Anywhere that had shadows must also have a link to the Velvet Room, although even now she wasn't entirely sure why that was true.

This door was sitting right near when she'd fallen when Yosuke had first pushed her in to the TV. The strange blue plushie was standing right in front of it, although he didn't seem to notice it at all. Minako headed for it, and Yosuke was quick to follow behind.

"Yeah," said Yosuke, "that's a good idea. You said her name was Margaret, right?"

"Right," agreed Minako. "She's Elizabeth and Theodore's sister."

"And…Elizabeth and Theodore are people who live in this 'Velvet' place?" Yosuke sounded like he was doing his best to make sense of a lot of confusing information.

"Well, yes. I mean, I think they're people. They look like people. And they might or might not actually be living," said Minako. Seeing the blank look on Yosuke's face, she sighed. "It's confusing, I know. Yu would have known about them. They're responsible for looking after persona users. They work for someone named Igor, and-!"

"Yeah," interjected Junpei. "We've met him. He helped us out after you…" stopping, he swallowed, and then finished, more quietly, "after you died."

That made sense, thought Minako. After all, when she'd become the seal, there had been no one left, at the time, with her persona ability. Yu hadn't come along until years later, so of course, Igor would have turned to the other members of SEES. "So, then, can you see that door?" she asked, pointing at the shimmering door to the Velvet Room.

"Yeah," said Akihiko. "We can see it." He, Mitsuru, Yukari, Ken, Junpei, and Fuuka strode forward. "Are we going in there?"

Minako didn't answer. Instead, she looked around at the confused and questioning faces of Yosuke and his friends. They were staring at the spot where Minako was pointing, but their expressions indicated that they didn't see anything there. If they've never been to the Velvet Room before, she thought, then they won't be able to see the door. So, then, how was she going to get them all inside?

"Take my hand," she said to Yosuke, holding it out to him.

Yosuke blinked at it. "Um…"

Minako was annoyed. "I thought you said you'd save him 'whatever it takes.' Is a little uncomfortable physical contact really that big of a deal?"

"I don't know where you're taking me," Yosuke insisted. "You say there's a door. I don't see a door. What if this is all some kind of-?"

"You're going to have to trust me or this isn't going to work," interrupted Minako. "We're either a team, or we're a mess. Besides, you need my help. I don't think you're going to get Yu back without me."

"Do what she says," growled Shinjiro, from somewhere near the back of the group. "She knows what she's talking about."

It may have been the menacing tones of Shinjiro's voice that did the trick, or it may have been the confidence that Minako could feel shining out of her own eyes. The world felt like a different place, now that she had her persona and knew what path she needed to be on. Maybe there were fewer possibilities now, but at least she had a purpose, some real meaning to her being alive.

Whatever it was, it convinced Yosuke. He reached out and held on to her hand.

"Now, the rest of you, hold on to each other," Minako instructed. "Each of you who has been into the Velvet Room before, you need to be touching someone who is new to this. I think as long as we're all linked to each other, we'll be able to go in together. Okay?"

Slowly, somewhat reluctantly, each of Yosuke's friends took the hands of the members of SEES. Some of them were holding on as though they were gripping diapers or dead fish, wary of the unfamiliar contact.

When everyone had a hand to hold, Minako pressed her unoccupied hand to the Velvet Room door. It opened in front of her, and, pulling Yosuke along behind her, she stepped inside.

"Ah…" said Igor, looking up as they entered. "What a pleasant surprise."

No matter what he said, Igor didn't look surprised. He never did show a great deal of emotion, but even so, Minako had expected him to be a little bit thrown off at seeing so many unfamiliar people coming into the Velvet Room all at once. She glanced over at Margaret, who nodded once.

"Oh," said Minako. "You were expecting us."

"What is this place?" whispered the short-haired girl, who was still holding firmly onto Yukari's hand. Yukari was wincing slightly, apparently from the intensity of the short-haired girl's grip.

"You can drop hands now," said Minako, belatedly. She watched with some amusement as each of the boys immediately let go of their male partners' hands, and began brushing their palms off on the sides of their pant legs.

"This," intoned Igor, "is a place for those who seek to use their power to protect the future and the futures of the ones they hold dear. Margaret has told me everything that she knows about the disturbance in the patterns of the future. It seems that the former residents of this room have forgotten their place and have sought to take the flow of fate into their own hands. You have come, of course, to set things right again. I knew that you would."

You're a smug, self-impressed bastard, thought Minako. One day, I'll surprise you, and I won't do what you know that I'll do. Out loud, she said, "So you know where to find Elizabeth and Theodore?"

Igor didn't respond to that. Instead, he made a sweeping gesture with one hand, over towards the far left wall of the room. Minako and Yosuke both turned to look at the place he was indicating, and found themselves staring at a seemingly endless line of closed black doors, each with a large, ornate lock, and two glowing keyholes.

"By now," said Margaret, "my brother and sister will have felt that something has gone wrong. They will know that you are coming, and they will seek to hide themselves in the safest place they can find, the place that you are least likely to ever want to look."

"I have a bad feeling about this," muttered Junpei.

Minako tried to ignore him, but she couldn't help but agree. This was sounding worse and worse by the moment. "Where is that place?" she asked, not sure she wanted to hear the answer.

Margaret smiled a sympathetic smile. "Within the darker parts of your own inner minds," she told Minako. "Just as your personas rest alongside your core of strength and sense of self, Elizabeth and Theodore will choose to hide in places that you will never go, into the parts of your mind that you hide from the daylight, and that you avoid even thinking about."

"So, in our nightmares," said Yosuke. "I…had a feeling it would be something like that."

Ah, thought Minako, he's getting the hang of this.

Margaret nodded. "Yes, that is one way of putting it."

"So, these doors, then," said Yukari. "They lead to our nightmares? That's so creepy…"

"Each of these doors," confirmed Margaret, "leads to the darker parts of your minds. Not everyone, however, is haunted by the same thing. You will find that each door has two keyholes, and that only one key will fit each of the keyholes. It is up to you to discover behind which of these doors my brother and sister are hiding. It will not be easy."

"Let me guess." Yosuke looked tired. "There are going to be monsters."

"Shadows, yes," agreed Margaret. "For in order to find the answers that you seek, you must first exorcise the shadows in your own minds."

"This," muttered the androgynously dressed girl, "feels remarkably familiar."

The same blond, tattooed boy who had tried to throw a punch at Minako's other self stepped forward, holding something up so that they all could see. It looked like a big brass key, exactly the right size to fit into one of the locks on the row of doors.

"Found this in my pants pocket," he told them. "So, what are we waiting for? Let's check it out."

There was some shuffling among the people in the Velvet Room, and a fair amount of muttering and whispering. Minako thought she heard the short-haired girl say "Oh, no, Kanji? I don't think I even want to see what's inside his nightmares...not after we saw what his shadow looked like! Eeww…"

"Um." Ken, soft-spoken as he was, had trouble being heard over the rising murmur. "I've got one too." He, too, held up a great brass key. It seemed, at first glance, to be almost identical to the one that the boy named Kanji carried.

"Huh? But you're just a kid." The short-haired girl was looking down uncertainly at Ken, who seemed to be doing his best to stand up straight and look tall. "Are you really going to be okay in there?"

"Don't worry, I've got your back," said Kanji. "Think you can hold your own in a fight?"

"Yes," said Ken simply. Kanji nodded.

"That's enough for me. Come on, let's try some of these doors." With Ken trailing behind him, Kanji walked over to the row of doors, and started trying his key in each of the locks.

Neither of the keys worked in the first door, nor did they work in the second door. When Ken tried the third door, however, his key slipped easily in and turned in the lock. Kanji found that his key fit the second lock. Ken and Kanji exchanged a look, and Ken nodded.

"Let's go," he said. They both put a hand on the door, ready to swing it open and go inside.

"Wait!" Yosuke suddenly left Minako's side and joined the two boys. "I'm coming with you. We don't know what kind of shadows are in there. It could be dangerous."

Oh, it's definitely dangerous, thought Minako. She didn't know this Kanji kid nearly as well as Yosuke did, but even she could guess that any nightmares coming out of him would be a force to be reckoned with. After all, he was a big guy, with a nasty looking skull tattoo and rippling with muscles. What could he possibly be scared of? It would have to be big, ugly, and creepy. She shuddered involuntarily.

"Well?" Yosuke was watching her carefully. "What about you? Are you coming?"

"Of course I am." Minako could feel the weight of the fool card in her jacket pocket. It comforted her, made her feel powerful and safe. "Is everyone ready?"


	15. Chapter Fourteen

**Author's Note: **It's my birthday! I am 26 years old today. Wow, compared to most of you, I am pretty old. In honor of my feeling old today, here's a chapter about toys.

**Chapter Fourteen**

Kanji took the initiative, and pulled open the door. Through the doorway, the four of them could see an uneven landscape of blindingly, garishly bright primary colors. It seemed to consist primarily of endlessly rolling hills, each held to the next with large, sloppy black stitches. All around, the sound of raucous, derisive laughter reverberated.

"Wow, Kanji," remarked Yosuke. "I mean, I knew you were weird, but…damn. You seriously have some issues, man."

They all watched as a huge, purple stripey elephant, which appeared to be knit from string, tumbled across the ground a few feet in front of the door. The elephant was wearing a wizard's hat.

"Shut up," Kanji grumbled.

"Although," continued Yosuke, "it could be worse. Honestly, I was expecting your nightmares to be full of naked chicks."

Minako raised an eyebrow. "How would that be worse, exactly? I thought all boys lived for dreams like that. You certainly seem like the type."

That got a blush out of Yosuke. "Yeah, well, sure," he managed, "but Kanji, he's…different." Yosuke put a significant emphasis on word "different" that Minako couldn't hope to understand. "He's terrified of women."

Kanji, by this time, had turned an unpleasant shade of angry, embarrassed purple. "I've told you a hundred times," he insisted, "I'm not afraid of girls anymore! I talk to Yukiko-senpai and Chie-senpai all the time!"

Yosuke wasn't ready to give up. "Oh yeah? And how about Naoto? Most of the time you won't even look at her."

Minako opened her mouth to intervene on Kanji's behalf, when, unexpectedly, Ken said "It makes sense."

"Huh? What does?" asked Yosuke.

"Being afraid of girls," Ken clarified. "Girls are strange." Having said this, he started forward through the door, leaving the rest of them staring after him.

"See? He gets it." Kanji gave Yosuke a vindicated look. "Girls are strange. They say things that they don't mean, and they always expect you to know what they're thinking. It…it makes me nervous. Ken-kun knows what I'm talking about."

"Dude, he's like, eleven." Yosuke shook his head in exasperation. "You're identifying with an eleven year old kid. Doesn't that seem kind of juvenile?"

Minako decided that she'd had about enough of this. She didn't get exactly what was going on between Yosuke and Kanji, but as far as she could see, Kanji hadn't done anything to deserve all of this harassment. "Actually," she interjected, "Ken is thirteen, and, Yosuke? The only person acting juvenile around here at the moment is you."

"Hey, what was that for?" Yosuke called, as Minako jogged ahead through the doorway to catch up with Ken, who had stopped to watch an oversized red teddy bear lounging in a clearing.

"Do you think they'll attack us?" he asked, as Minako approached.

She nodded. "Probably. According to Margaret, these are the shadows of Kanji-kun's nightmares, so they're probably hostile." Even as she said it, Minako was having trouble taking the giant plushies seriously. Why on earth, she wondered, was a big guy like Kanji afraid of something that looked so much like a children's toy? Idly, she wondered to herself if maybe Kanji had experienced some trauma in his childhood relating to a favorite toy that had gotten lost, or something like that. She'd heard once in a high school psychology class that things like that could happen.

"They're awful," said Ken.

Minako blinked. "What, really? I don't know, if they were a little smaller, they might be really sweet. I had some toys like these when I was a little girl."

Ken muttered something in such a low voice that Minako couldn't hear him. When she raised a questioning eyebrow, he repeated, in an only slightly louder voice, "I don't like toys."

That made Minako smile. "Yeah, well, I know you're a little old for them," she began, "but…" What stopped her was the dark, brooding look on Ken's face. She'd seen a similar look on Shinjiro's face when he was thinking about the past, and now she was sure that Ken and Shinjiro had been spending too much time together since she'd been away. They were starting to share mannerisms, and there were some of Shinjiro's, Minako thought, that Ken could do without.

Ken kept talking quietly, more to himself than to Minako, as though he were thinking out loud. "When I was eight, my dad died. When I was nine, my mom died. When I was ten, I joined up with SEES, and then, Shinjiro-san…I almost killed him too. Toys are something that you play with when you're a kid. People say that being a kid is supposed to be the best time of your life, but…I guess I never had much time for toys. Maybe that's why I don't like them."

"Sour grapes, huh?" murmured Minako.

Ken almost jumped when he heard her voice. "Oh, you were listening? No, it's not that. I just…I don't really have a use for toys."

Minako saw the wistful look in Ken's eyes, and remembered the conversations she'd had with him when they were living in the dorms together. He'd wanted so badly to be a kid, had wanted to care about TV shows and superheroes and the sorts of things that other ten year olds spent time worrying about. Now that it was over, he had an opportunity, but…those years he'd lost being too old for his age were gone forever. He couldn't have those back.

"When I was a kid, my dad left me and my mom alone," said Kanji. Minako hadn't even realized that he'd come up behind them while they were talking, and by the mortified look on Ken's face, he hadn't noticed either. "It pissed me off, but…it made me want to get stronger, so that I could be the one to look out for my mom. That's what I wanted, but…"

Another burst of laughter echoed around the room, followed by the appearance of a green polka-dotted giraffe doing complicated cartwheels. The giraffe had knit mittens on all four hooves. Yosuke and Minako exchanged a concerned look.

"I'm a lot better at making stuff than I am at fighting," finished Kanji. "I used to act all tough, cause I was embarrassed about it, but…then I met Yosuke-senpai, and Yu-senpai. I'm not embarrassed anymore, I don't care if people laugh, I just…I couldn't protect him." Kanji stared awkwardly as his feet. "The guy who made it all make sense to me, I couldn't use these big 'ol hands to protect him when he needed it. All I can do is sew and knit, and make stupid little toys. "

"I couldn't protect my mom either," Ken told him. "And in the end, I couldn't protect Minako-san, because I'm just a kid. Everybody's always telling me, I'm just a kid. Nothing that I do can ever be enough."

"Ken…" Minako wanted to say something to comfort him, to tell him that she didn't blame him, or that she didn't think of him as just a useless kid. Even as she groped for the words, she knew it wouldn't matter. Ken was a practical person. He'd always had to be. She couldn't comfort him with platitudes or contrived reassurances. All she could do was stand there and watch him hurt.

Again, Minako thought, again, I helped to hurt him. I didn't want to, I didn't mean to, but I did it anyway.

Lost in her own self-loathing as she was, Minako almost didn't notice the shadow coming towards her, until she heard Yosuke shout out "incoming!" Looking up, she saw a huge, off-white cloth clown, with crazy tufts of red fluff coming out of each ear, and a big piece of red felt balled up to make a nose that was too large for the clown's face. The eyes were the worst part, menacing, yellow, and slanted just like the eyes of Minako's other self had been. Instinctively, Minako felt herself moving her body in between Ken and the clown. She heard him let out an exasperated little exclamation as she did so.

The clown struck at Kanji first, lashing out with one huge gloved hand. Evading the clumsy blow easily, Kanji whipped out his persona card, and, at the same time, his sword-wielding giant of a persona shot out of him and took a mighty swipe at the terrible clown.

Yosuke was right behind him. "Takehaya Susano-o!" he shouted. His persona hit the clown with a blast of forceful wind energy that rocked the clown backwards, but didn't manage to knock it down. "Ugh, no luck…"

Now, it was Minako's turn. Pulling out her own persona card, she felt, rather than saw the existence of Izanagi as he burst forth out of her mind, and she could sense the spells and abilities that were available to her through Izanagi. It was a disappointing array. "What?" she muttered to herself, aggravated. "Zio? That's it? Why I am so weak?"

Ken, who now had his own persona out, was trying to cast light spells on the clown, but the clown wasn't responding to the attacks. Finally, apparently annoyed by Ken's repeated yet ineffective assaults, the clown turned on Ken and kicked out with one ridiculous booted foot. Ken didn't manage to dodge in time, and hit the ground with a cry of anger.

"Ken-kun!" cried Minako. She prepared to use Zio, even if only to distract the clown for a moment so that he'd leave Ken alone long enough for the boy to get back on his feet.

She never had the chance to attack. Even before she'd spoken the words for the spell, Kanji was screaming at the clown, and his persona was rushing at it, blade already upraised. The sword sliced right through the clown's middle, emitting a blast of white lightening as it connected. Instantly, the clown disappeared in a splatter of red and black shadow essence.

In the silence that followed, Yosuke and Minako watched Kanji reach down and pull Ken back on to his feet.

"You okay?" he asked.

Ken looked disgusted. "I couldn't do it," he said, "I couldn't even hurt it. I kept trying, and trying, but nothing I did even damaged that thing!"

Kanji shrugged. "So? You pissed it off just enough o give me an opening. It was a good team strategy. Yu-senpai was always talking about strategies and working together to take the shadows down. Guess he was right. Couldn't have done it by myself."

Yosuke opened his mouth to say something, but Minako caught his eye, and he seemed to think better of it.

While Ken brushed himself off from the fall, Kanji bent down and picked something up off the ground. "Hey, look at this."

He held it up to the light, and Minako saw that it was a sort of brass double key, or, rather, it was two keys that would fit different locks, fused firmly together in the center.

"Hey, that's gotta be a clue," announced Yosuke. He took the key from Kanji, and shoved it into his pocket. "I bet this is what we need to open the next door."

Minako remembered the line of doors, and the way that each of them was complete with two locks, for two different keys. The locks were spread apart, designed to be used separately, while this double key would only be able to fit a door that had two locks packed closely together, side by side. "I don't think so," she said, shaking her head. "Still, it's probably important, whatever it is. We can ask Margaret and Igor about it when we get back."

Yosuke nodded. "Yeah, good idea. But um…let's do that tomorrow, okay? I don't know about you, but I'm beat. I'm ready to call it a night."

Minako was surprised. "I thought that you'd be the one who wanted to push forward, no matter what. After all, your friend…"

"Yu's not gonna be any better off if we waste our strength and screw this up." Yosuke was serious. "We're gonna do this the right way. Like you said, whatever it takes."

The four of them put their persona cards away, and strode back through the patchwork nightmare, towards the still open doorway to the Velvet Room. Just before she left Kanji's nightmare behind, Minako took a look back over her shoulder, and wondered how many more chances she would have to fight alongside her friends like this. In a perverse and unwelcome way, she wanted it to take a long time. Even if it couldn't take forever, every extra moment that she got to spend in this life was precious now.


	16. Chapter Fifteen

**Author's Note: **Ugh, I wanted to make it a two chapter night last night, but I was exhausted…my students were really badly behaved yesterday, I'm never bringing in donuts for them again. Sugar does not do anything good for classroom management.

**Maudlin Blase, **thanks for continuing to review and encourage! I really appreciate it. You mentioned my updating frequently. See, I actually write most of this story on the train or on the bus. I unfortunately spend about three hours a day either on a train or a bus, so I have plenty of time to finish a chapter or two. I write it all out in a notebook while in transit, then I type it up when I get home and go to bed. So really, it's just the fact that my schedule lends itself to this sort of thing that lets me write a lot, otherwise I'd be updating a lot less frequently!

Speaking of updating and of reviewing…nah, nevermind, I'll tell you next chapter.

**Chapter Fifteen**

Minako, Yosuke, Kanji, and Ken walked back through the open doorway into the middle of what looked like the prelude to gang warfare. On one side of the room, Fuuka had her persona out, and was apparently trying to use it's support abilities to scan the areas inside each of the locked doors. Behind her, the remaining members of SEES were rallied together, glaring warily across the room at a small, pig-tailed girl, who also seemed to be trying to use her persona to scan. Behind her were the collected members of Yosuke's team, and they were, in turn, trying to stare down the various members of SEES.

"Hey, what the hell is going on out here?" asked Yosuke, barreling immediately into the space between the two groups. "Rise, where were you? We could have used your help in there!"

"It's not my fault," pouted the girl named Rise, pointing one slender finger accusingly at Fuuka. "I can't do anything while she's here. Kouzeon can't sense anything but her!"

"Excuse me," murmured Fuuka,, with an atypical edge evident in her soft, obliging voice, "but it is your persona that is interfering with my readings. Hera can't seem to do anything without this other persona getting in the way of her abilities."

"Yosuke-senpai!" A pleading look came into Rise's eyes and she made a very pretty, if somewhat childishly mournful face at Yosuke. "You've got to get her out of here! Yu-senpai is waiting for us, we can't afford to waste all of this time!"

Fuuka chose not to say anything in response to that, instead she murmured something under her breath, and her persona again attempted to do a scan of one of the nearby doors.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Yosuke shook his head violently. "Cut it out! Come on, there's no need for this kid stuff. Can't the two of you work together or something? Like, find a way to fuse your abilities to make the scans even stronger?"

Shaking her head, Fuuka sighed, and her persona vanished back into her. "I'm afraid that won't be possible. For some reason, something about our persona abilities seems to be preventing them from functioning at the same time. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Fuuka," said Minako, interrupting Rise before she'd had a chance to put in her two cents. "We're all tired. It's already been a very busy day full of lots of exhausting surprises. Let's head back to Junpei's for tonight. We can try to fix the issue with your two personas tomorrow."

As Rise's persona also disappeared, and the two tense groups began to whisper and mutter amongst themselves, Junpei hurried over to Minako's side.

"Dude," he said urgently, "did you see her? That's Rise Kujikawa!"

Minako raised an eyebrow at him. She hadn't been kidding when she'd said she was tired. "You don't say. Who's she supposed to be?"

"You don't know?" Junpei was almost jumping up and down with excitement. "She's Risette, the famous pop idol! I see her on TV all the time, but she's soo much cuter in person…do you think Yosuke could introduce me?"

"Isn't she a little young for you?" asked Minako. The girl didn't look like she could be any older than fifteen.

Junpei snorted. "She's seventeen, so, no, she's not. And hey, who are you to talk about stuff like that? Weren't you with Shinjiro-san last night? He's like, four years older than you. They do say, though, that the man should always be older."

Minako turned white, then a little bit pink. "How do you know about that?" she asked in a whisper, pulling Junpei closer to her so that no one else would hear. "No one else was around! Were you spying on us?"

"Nah, of course not. But hey, it wasn't hard to find out. I know how you tick, get used to it." Junpei grinned at her, but then the smile slipped off of his face, and he continued in an equally hushed voice, "by the way, great save today, when you were telling Yosuke that you'd help him get his friend back. I don't think he would have let us out alive if you'd said anything else. I guess now we're just gonna what, keep stringing him along until we think of a better plan? Or, do you already have one?"

It took Minako a moment to sort through what Junpei had said. Finally, she murmured, "Junpei, I meant all of it. We are going to get Narukami back. I made a promise. "

Junpei shook his head. But…if we do that, then you'll have to…" he swallowed, and stopped, then forced himself through the rest of the sentence. "You'll have to go back, won't you? I mean, you wouldn't do that. This is your second chance, right? You can't go blowing it, we've got so much we haven't been able to do together yet!" Frowning, he uncharacteristically reached out and grabbed her hand. "It's gonna be fun. We're gonna have a good time, make some memories to laugh about later, just like in the good old days. Look, I'm not the only the one. We all want you to stay."

"Everyone else seems to be handling this just fine," retorted Minako, and she was surprised at how bitterly the words came out.

Junpei just frowned at her. "Nobody else really gets it," he admitted. "It's still all some big adventure, finding the missing boy, having another crack at saving the world. Someday, maybe even tomorrow they're all gonna look around and realize what it means. Do you want them all, do you want me to wake up every day thinking that we might have had a chance to save you, and that we just didn't take it? You can't seriously be that selfish. That's not the Mina-tan that I know. "

Selfish? Somehow, that didn't seem fair to Minako. How was sacrificing herself to rescue another person a selfish act? How was giving up what she wanted so that others could be happy a selfish act? Even as she railed against it internally, a little, nagging voice in the back of her mind said to her that selfishness was putting what she wanted before the feelings of others. Didn't she want to be the hero again? Wouldn't that end up hurting the people she loved?

"You have to understand," she told Junpei, hoping, wishing, praying that he would. "It's complicated, so…no matter what I do, I've done something wrong. If someone's going to suffer, why can't it just be me?"

Junpei shrugged. "Because it can't, that's just not how it works when people care about you. Sorry. I thought that was what you wanted. You said you didn't want to be alone. At least, that weird, creepy, yellow-eyed thing said it, and I guess that's pretty much the same thing."

Minako took a deep breath. "If there's any other way," she said, "to get Yu Narukami back, then I'll take it. I want to live, Junpei. I want another chance." I want it so badly, she thought, that just thinking about losing it makes me all tense and choked up on the inside. I don't want to think about it, it's too painful. I want to just face the facts and get it over with. "If we can find another solution, I'd be more than happy to go along with it, but I can't be responsible for his death. He has friends, he has a family. He didn't deserve this."

"What, and you did?" Junpei didn't look impressed with her speech.

"But if there isn't a way," insisted Minako, ignoring his interjection, "then we have to, we absolutely have to understand and expect that this is going to be the last time. It won't be the first time I've left you. You won't be taken by surprise. This time, at least, we'll have the chance to do the one thing we never could do before. We'll get to say goodbye."

Minako could tell that Junpei wasn't ready to give up, and that he had more to say. Before he'd had the chance, however, she could hear Akihiko's voice coming from behind her, and she turned around to see him walking over from where he'd been talking to Ken and Kanji near the still open doorway.

"Hey," he said. Minako knew this wasn't the time for romance, but even hearing the familiar tones of his voice still made her heart do a fluttery little dance inside her chest. He smiled that winning smile that had made every girl at Gekkoukan swoon, and said, "Do you have a minute? I want to talk to you about…um…about everything. About us."

Junpei, even in his current state of frustration and concern, knew when to make himself scarce. Mouthing "We'll talk later," to Minako, and forcing her to briefly meet his eyes, he hurried off into the throng of other people, leaving Minako and Akihiko alone.

"So," said Akihiko. He looked like he felt uncomfortable. The color in his cheeks was cute, especially, thought Minako, in a guy who was usually so confident.

"So," agreed Minako. The two of them stared at each other for a long moment, and then, unexpectedly, Akihiko reached out and gently pushed a lock of hair out of Minako's face, and his fingers brushed against Minako's lip as he did it. She expected to feel the same delighted shiver that she usually felt whenever Akihiko touched her, but for some reason the gesture just left her feeling a little bit lonely. She couldn't understand that feeling at all.

"Look, about what you said…I mean, when we were in that TV place." Akihiko seemed to be having trouble finding the right words to put together. "I know that I've been…different, since you got back. It's hard for me, it's been such a long time. Still, I…I care about you. You know that, right?"

Minako wanted to know it. She wanted to believe it, but the persistent image of Mitsuru and Akihiko kept cropping up in her mind, reminding her of proof to the contrary. In silence, she watched the expectant look on his face. When she didn't respond, he frowned.

"Let's go get some coffee tonight, just you and me," he said. "I know, It's not dinner, it's not…it's not a date." Minako's heart sank a little bit as he said that. Would it have killed him to sweep her off her feet? "I want to talk to you, to listen to you. I want to remember who you are. If you're worried that I've forgotten about you, let's try to fix it. You mean something to me, I just don't know what that is anymore. I want to find out."

"Okay," said Minako. She didn't know what else there was to say.

"Tonight, then. Seven o'clock. I'll pick you up in the car. Don't be late." With that, Akihiko walked off. Minako was left feeling empty and upset, although she couldn't put her finger on exactly which feelings stemmed from where.


	17. Chapter Sixteen

**Author's Note: **Okay, so there were some pretty epic typos in the last chapter. I believe I have corrected them, but I apologize for that. I' must have been more tired than I thought when I was doing my proofing.

**Jenni Saba**, I wouldn't feel too sorry for Junpei, he's probably not gonna take this sitting down. **Boy1324**, there will definitely be some further conflict between the two groups. **Reaching OutFES**, ah, so it's romance you want! Fear not, there is a bit of that on the horizon for poor, frustrated Minako and…a gentleman. Or two. She does seem to be popular with the gentlemen. That's all you get for now, stay tuned!

**Chapter Sixteen**

"So, let me make sure I've got this right," said Chie, as she and rest of the investigation team sat around in the food court at Junes. "There's a group of mysterious older persona users who, three years ago, saved the world from shadows. Their leader, Minako Arisato, got trapped in some kind of 'seal' that kept the shadows out and the people safe. Now she's back, and Yu-kun is trapped in the seal instead."

"Correct," agreed Naoto. "It seems that two entities from the Velvet Room interfered on Minako-chan's behalf. They have now gone missing and are likely on the run."

"Oh, but," added Yukiko hastily, "Minako-chan didn't want any of this. She didn't even know about it until after Yu was taken."

Somehow, that didn't sound right to Yosuke, who had been listening attentively to his friends' recapitulation of the case so far. Yes, Minako and her friends had saved the world from the shadows, but…if so, then why were there still shadows coming out of the TV world today? There was something else, too, something that just didn't sit right with him. It was something that Yukiko had said, about Minako's return.

"Wait," he interrupted, "wait, hold on. Do we really buy that? I mean, about Minako-chan not wanting any of this to happen?"

Kanji shrugged. "Doesn't seem like she planned it, if that's what you mean."

"No, it's not what I mean." Yosuke shook his head. "Look, I don't think she was trying to get Yu hurt, or trapped, or killed, or whatever he is. But…she didn't want to come back? That just seems crazy to me. I mean, nobody wants to die. If you knew that you were gonna die, but that you could save yourself somehow, wouldn't you do it? I know I would."

So, he wondered, why isn't she running? Why would she agree to help us?

"I see." Naoto nodded, looking thoughtful. "I think it would be wise for us to keep a close eye on Minako-chan until we know more about her stake in all of this. Perhaps there is nothing to be worried about, but…as Yosuke-senpai says, she has too many motives to want all of this to go away. Her friends, also, will hardly be willing to just let her return to the seal without even a fight."

As the others nodded, Yosuke thought for a moment about how disturbing it was that none of this bothered him. The idea of some little girl sacrificing herself for the greater good should have sent cold chills down his spine, or awakened his protective, masculine spirit. Instead, the idea of trading Minako for Yu seemed perfectly reasonable to him. What did that say about him as a person? He wasn't sure he wanted to know.

Saki-senpai had once joked with him that everyone had their "people." Your "people," she'd said, were the ones that you'd jump in front of a bus to protect. In a half-laughing, half-disappointed voice, she'd prattled on about how she'd never find her "people" in this town, where she was having trouble making real friends and real connections. Yosuke knew that Yu had been one of his "people," and that the connection between them made all the difference. Minako just wasn't in that category. Even if that didn't make the feelings okay, it justified them enough for him. If he had been in a building with Minako and Yu, and a crazy guy with a gun had come in, and Yosuke only had time to protect one of them, he knew he'd go for Yu. How was this situation really any different?

Despite all his justifications, Yosuke was still uncomfortable. He changed the subject.

"Hey, I think I'm going to take Minako-chan to see Dojima-san tomorrow," he said. "We can say that she's Yu's old girlfriend from the city."

Kanji didn't look to happy about that. "Uhh," he said, "is that such a good idea, senpai? Dojima-san's pretty worked up, he's in bad shape. Might not be a good time to talk to him."

"Trust me," said Yosuke. He honestly wasn't interested in whether or not Minako got anything out of Dojima. What he was really after was something totally different. There was someone else who lived in that house that he was hoping Minako would be able to meet.

"Hey!" Chie pointed across the food court at a table near the back. "Isn't that Minako-chan and Akihiko-san over there?"

Yosuke looked. The two of them were sitting across from each other, having a couple of Junes brand sodas. Akihiko was too far away for Yosuke to see him clearly, but Minako was just close enough that Yosuke could read the miserable expression on her face.

"Oh," added Yukiko, "and over there, that's Junpei-san and Shinjiro-san, right? I'm getting better at these names." Now Yukiko was pointing at a totally different table not too far from Yosuke's own, where Junpei and Shinjiro had their heads together and were buried in quiet, earnest conversation.

Yosuke spent a moment looking back and forth between the two tables, watching the changing expressions and the interactions that he could see but not hear. "Seriously," he muttered after a moment, "what is wrong with these people?"

**Meanwhile, at Minako's table…**

"Sorry that this isn't really coffee," Akihiko said. "I'm not too sure what else is around here. Never been to Inaba before."

Minako hadn't even touched her soda. "It's fine," she muttered. She wasn't feeling well.

"So, um…" Akihiko seemed at a loss for what to say next. "What did you want to talk about?"

"What?" Minako blinked. "You're the one who invited me."

"Oh, right. That's true." Akihiko sighed, then picked up and chugged his soda before slamming it back down on to the table. He gave her the look of a man who was steeling himself for a painful blow. "After you died," he began, then stopped and mumbled, "jeez, this is such a weird conversation. After you died, I was…upset."

You have a funny way of showing it, thought Minako. When Akihiko seemed to be waiting for her reaction, she nodded encouragingly at him.

"I didn't want to see anyone," he continued, clearly forcing himself through words that he wasn't eager to say. "It was hard. I was angry. It felt like you had abandoned me, just when things were starting to get good between us. I needed a distraction, and for once, training wasn't enough."

He paused again, doubtfully, and he looked so obviously uncomfortable that Minako finally took pity on him. "I know about Mitsuru," she said.

"What? You…you do?" Akihiko just stared at her. "Did Junpei tell you?"

You should have told me yourself, thought Minako accusingly. Out loud, she said "No, I saw you last night, at the inn."

Akihiko turned white. "Oh," he said. "I'm sorry. I wish you hadn't seen that. I wanted to explain-!"

"I said it's okay." Minako sighed. "Listen, I know what happened. You were lonely, you were sad, and Mitsuru was there for you. She made you feel better, made you forget. That's…that's normal. I don't want it to be that way, but it is. I know what that feels like, moving on because you anything else would hurt too much."

A little glint of anger suddenly came into Akihiko's eyes, and he said, perhaps more loudly than he'd intended, "yeah, I didn't know about that. I didn't know about Shinji." Minako could hear the hint of jealousy in his voice, and it was exhilarating and exasperating at the same time.

"I left him for you," she reminded him. I left him, she thought, in a hospital bed, dying, for you. Really, I have no right at all to throw stones, even if I want to.

"So…can we call it even, then?" Akihiko smiled, and for a moment, Minako was shocked that it didn't hurt. His smile made her want to smile, but not in the deep, tingly way that it had not so long ago. This time, she was just happy to see that he was happy. It was a good, relaxing feeling, but there was something empty about it as well, as though she'd lost track of something that had been filling up a void in her heart.

He reached out and put his hand on top of hers, and she let him. It felt the same way it had when he'd been holding her hand on Junpei's couch. His touch was uncertain, comfortable, and also disappointing.

"Yeah," she told him, "I think we're even."

Pushing his empty soda bottle aside, Akihiko leaned in over the table, and took Minako's face in his hands. He kissed her hesitantly, and she closed her eyes, eager for that old feeling of relief and excitement that came with Akihiko's kisses and embraces. Instead, his lips were uncomfortably soft against hers, and she could feel the awkwardness of the position they were in, hunched over each other with the metal table between them. Unexpectedly, as Akihiko kissed her, she pictured the look that had been in Shinjiro's eyes when he took her by surprise at the inn, and had kissed her like a starving man. Shinjiro, who she'd thrown away just the same way Aki had thrown her away, because at the time there hadn't seemed like any other possibility.

Breaking away from him, Minako looked into Akihiko's eyes and asked, "What about Mitsuru?"

"It doesn't matter," said Akihiko, his hand closing over hers again. "You're back now. We can have the stuff we always talked about, together."

He leaned in for another kiss, but Minako had seen the uncertainty in his eyes when he'd answered her question, and she was sure that the same look was now floating around in her own face. "But it does matter," she insisted. "You care about her. The fact that I'm here now doesn't make what you had…what you have with her any less true. Just like what you have with her doesn't mean that we didn't have something wonderful once."

She could hear herself saying the words, could see the surprise on Akihiko's face, and yet Minako still wasn't quite sure what was happening. Here was her chance to take him back, to start over from where she'd left off, to have the happy ending that her other self had confessed to dreaming of. The image of Akihiko smiling and laughing with her on the roof ofGekkoukan High came swimming into her head, somehow coupled with the image of Akihiko and Mitsuru kissing at the Amagi inn. Behind it all, somewhere that she could feel rather than see, she had the image of Shinjiro's face, and the pain in his voice when he'd tried to tell her how much she meant to him.

"I love you, Aki," she said, and her voice wavered slightly as she formed the words. "You know I always will."

"Yeah," said Akihiko, and there was a hoarse note in his voice that hadn't been there before. "You too."

Without another word, she stood up and left the table, knowing instinctively that Akihiko wouldn't try to follow her. She couldn't explain the way she was feeling, and for a moment, she didn't feel as though she needed to. She was leaving him, she knew that. There would be no turning around and running back into Akihiko's arms, no spending time with him in his dorm room, or in the abandoned classrooms after school. If she came to a boxing match to watch him, it wouldn't be her face that he'd be looking for in the crowd, or her hands that he'd be holding while he watched TV and ate ramen on the couch. That hurt. The loss of those things she'd loved so much hurt her, and yet…she felt safe, now, more secure, knowing that she'd moved on, too. Somehow, despite the years between them, despite the way that time had flowed without her, Minako realized that she'd already left him in her mind the moment that she'd seen him kissing Mitsuru, and had realized that he didn't just belong to her anymore.

Besides, she thought, this might be her last chance. There were thing she had to do, people she needed to be with, because she'd never had the opportunity before, and maybe she never would again. She had to fix the things she'd broken, before it was too late, and it would so soon be too late.

Lost in her own puzzling reflections, Minako almost smacked right into Junpei, who she met by accident on her way out of the food court.

"Oh," she said, proud of the confidence and unsteadiness of her voice. "Hey, I'm glad you're here. Do you know if Shinji is still back at your house?"

Junpei, for some reason, looked unsettled. "Um," he told her, "actually, you just missed him."

The confident, positive feeling in Minako's chest dropped sickeningly away. "What?" she demanded. "You mean, he was here?"

"Yeah, just now. We were talking about, um…we had something we had to discuss, man to man. Anyway, if you go back to the house, you'll probably-!"

Minako ran, already not listening to Junpei as she went full tilt towards the road that led back in the direction of Junpei's home.


	18. Chapter Seventeen

**Author's Note: This one's important! **Hey all you wonderful people! I'm looking at my outline for this story, and it looks like it's time to make this announcement. Minako is on a time budget, and now, so are we. I've plotted out three endings for this story, each of them very different. Just like in the persona games, I'll call them the Bad Ending, the Normal Ending, and the True Ending. I'm going to let you decide which one I use. We're almost at 50 reviews for this story, and that is so wonderful, you guys are the best readers ever! I'd love to hear more from you, though. I mean, what author wouldn't? And some of you are reading but not posting!

So, this is how it's gonna work. If, by the time we reach the ending, we have between 50 and 60 reviews, I'll give you the bad ending. If we have between 60 and 80 reviews, I'll give you the normal ending, and if we manage to get to between 90 and 100 reviews, I'll give you guys the true ending, plus I'll link the Bad and Normal endings as well, so you can check them out! Remember, a review doesn't have to be glowing praise. I mean, I certainly don't mind if you'd like to praise, but you can also make a comment, a critique, or even ask a question, or you can tell me something you'd like to see more of or less of in later chapters! Trust me, if you comment, I'll answer.

There's still tons of time, we're only slightly more than halfway through the story. Keep the endings in the back of your minds, though…

Okay, honestly, I'm gonna post the chapter now. Sorry about all that talking.

**Chapter Seventeen**

Unable to pace herself in her haste to reach Shinjiro, Minako soon found that she was out of breath. She slowed down to a trot, inwardly cursing the terrible timing of the universe that had led Shinjiro to be at the food court just in time to see her and Akihiko in a compromising situation. What had it made him think? Due to fate's increasingly cruel sense of humor, Minako felt she had reason to assume the worst.

Even as her steps got slower and slower, she heard the sound of wheels on the pavement, and turned to see Junpei's car pulling up alongside her. "Hey," he called, leaning out of the window, "Get in, I'll give you a ride. We'll get there faster. Jeez, I was gonna offer before, but you just took off."

Minako gratefully climbed up into the passenger seat, and Junpei started steering them towards the house. "Seriously, though," he said conversationally, "I am the best wingman ever. Wait, do girls even have wingmen?"

"Why were you at the food court?" asked Minako. "And with Shinji? You weren't spying on me, were you?"

"Of course not." Junpei scowled. "Like I'd do that. Who needs to spy on you? You do stuff like kiss Akihiko-san right out there in the open! Junes is a public place, you know. Anyway," he added, and he face grew darker even as he said it, "it's nothing to do with that. Shinjiro-san and I had some important stuff to talk about, just the two of us. I can't tell you about it." He paused a moment before saying, in a less serious tone of voice, "anyway, we're on a whirlwind adventure to find your man, and to convince him that he shouldn't be worried about you making out with your old boyfriend, right? So, hang on, we're running this red light."

Junpei suited the action to the word, and several angry drivers began honking as he barreled past them and sped away.

"Um," said Minako," thank you, I think?" The erratic driving wasn't making her feel terribly safe, but she could appreciate Junpei making an effort for her.

"Yeah," he said, "don't' sweat it. This is just like in one of those awful chick flick movies that Yukari watches, where the girl goes running after the guy, only seconds after she realizes that he's the one she's been crazy about all along. That's it, isn't it?" He grinned at the guilty look on Minako's face. "Sure. I can see it in your face, this is the real deal. Shinjiro-san, huh? Never would have guessed. Still, I guess it does make sense…"

Minako smiled as Junpei kept on talking. If anyone, she thought, knew what "the real thing" was like, then Junpei would. After all, he had been the one who had first taught her that love could be painful. All the stories and fairytales seemed to paint love like something brilliant and magical, that never hurt, and always healed. It was only when Junpei had fallen hard for Chidori that Minako had recognized, just by watching him, that love could be a terrible thing.

"Junpei," she asked, "what happened to Chidori?"

Junpei didn't take his eyes off the road. Minako saw his mouth harden into a thin, stoic line as he bit out the words. "She died. Almost a year ago."

Somehow, Minako felt that she had already known that. "I'm sorry. Did she-?"  
"No." Junpei cut her off quickly. "No, it was a car accident. She hit a tree late at night while she was driving back from the city." After a moment, he added, under his breath, "At least, they said it was an accident."

They drove along in silence for a while, and Minako wondered in surprise that Junpei could drive so fast, and disobey traffic laws the way he did, all the while knowing that it was a driving accident that had killed the woman he loved. Maybe, she reflected, that was why he did it. Maybe he wanted to be sure that it really was dangerous to drive erratically, and that Chidori hadn't gone out of her way to take her own life. After all, she had been a very sick girl at one point, and she had tried several times to injure herself through various different means. Even if it had seemed, after everything, as though she was entirely cured of her depression, Minako knew that those sorts of things didn't always just go away.

Unable to think of any platitude that could take the place of Chidori, Minako didn't say a word until the car had stopped in front of Junpei's house. Just before getting out of the car, she looked over at him, and said, "She loved you, you know." Leaning to give him a quick kiss on the cheek, Minako added, "and so do I. Er, not like that, of course, but-!"

Unexpectedly, Junpei laughed. "Yeah," he said. "I know. We're here. Come on, let's go get your man."

It took several interminable seconds for Junpei to find the house key, and then to fumble it into the lock. The whole time she was waiting, Minako had to force herself not to bounce up and down with impatience. When the door finally opened, she hurried inside, and was indescribably relieved to hear a familiar, hacking cough coming from the area of Junpei's kitchen.

Shinjiro was standing at the counter, and was shoving cooking utensils and various unopened packages of groceries into a sack that lay on the floor next to him. When she saw him, Minako suddenly wished that she'd spent more time on the way here thinking of what she was going to say. The feeling she got when she looked at him was the one she'd been craving, the tingly, anticipatory feeling that slid across her shoulders and down her spine, making her aware of a hot sensation in her cheeks, and the sudden desire to find a mirror to check her hair.

Shinjiro coughed again, and Junpei made a face. "Dude, don't cough all over the food," he admonished. "And what's all this stuff for?"

"It's nothing." Shinjiro looked up at Junpei, and noticeably avoided even seeing Minako. "Sorry. I was just leaving."

"Shinji," began Minako, "I-!"

Shinjiro cut her off, shaking his head. "Don't apologize," he muttered. "I already told you, you didn't do anything wrong."

Minako wasn't ready to give up so easily. "But," she insisted, "Akihiko and I…please, I want to explain."

"You already did." Carefully, Shinjiro lifted a large, ceramic serving spoon, and placed it at the bottom of the sack. "I heard what you said in that TV place. I was the one who left you first. You're right. Maybe if I hadn't been so weak, if I hadn't gone down so easy to that Strega guy, but…it's too late, now." Picking up the sack, he stepped forward, and encountered Minako blocking his path out of the kitchen. "Get out of the way. I've got places to be."

"What, you're just gonna leave?" asked Junpei, incredulous.

"Sure." Shinjiro shrugged, but he looked as though he felt a little guilty, even as he said it. "She's got Aki to protect her. And she's got you. I've got no more business here."

Junpei shook his head. "But, what about what you said, what about our-?"

"Forget it, You can do it without me." Shinjiro again tried to shove past Minako, but she stood her ground and gazed up into his eyes with a fierceness that forced him to look at her.

"I don't want you to go," she said.

Shinjiro grunted. "Trust me, you'll get over it."

"Maybe I don't want to get over it," retorted Minako, and, with a boldness born of desperation, she suddenly reached up, grabbed his shoulders, and kissed him.

"Mmgh!" exclaimed Shinjiro, totally taken aback. His body stiffened in surprise, and he dropped the bag of cooking things, which clattered to the ground by his feet. Minako thought she heard the sound of something breaking, but she didn't care. Closing her eyes, she drew herself closely against him, and continued to kiss him until his stillness gave way, and she felt his arms wind around her, his palms pressing hard against the small of her back. Then he began to return the kiss, hesitantly at first, then more and more aggressively, a little involuntary groan escaping him as her lips parted to admit his tongue. Suddenly, he pulled away from her and began coughing again, and Minako had to let him go so that he had a chance to catch his breath. She watched him double over for a moment until he the coughing fit ended, and then he straightened up, staring at her with a wildly confused expression in his eyes.

W-what?" he managed to stammer out.

"I told you," repeated Minako, "I don't want you to leave."

"But…you and Aki," insisted Shinjiro, somewhat uncertainly. "Just now, at the food court."

"I was trying to tell you," Minako explained, "We were saying goodbye. It's been three years, and we're both…we're both invested in other people. I have a chance now that I thought I'd never have again, and I don't want to waste it. I want to spend whatever time I have left with you."

Just for a moment, a flash of darkness came into Shinjiro's eyes. He and Junpei exchanged a brief look, and for some reason, that seemed to be enough. Shinjiro's face cleared up again. Minako raised an eyebrow at Junpei, but he was studiously examining the contents of Shinjiro's abandoned sack, and apparently didn't notice Minako's gaze on him.

"You don't mean that," Shinjiro said, and Minako turned her focus back to him. "You're just upset about Aki and Mitsuru. He told me about what happened at the inn. Listen, it's always you that he-!"

"I don't care about Mitsuru." Minako was a bit surprised to hear herself say it, but even then she knew that it was true. If anything, Mitsuru's interference had made it clearer to Minako where she really wanted to be. "I want to be with you. I want to have the things that we never had before, and I want to take the chances that we didn't take, because…because it's not too late." But, said a little voice in the back of her mind, it will be. It will be, and I don't know how soon. I can't wait around to see how I feel about this later, or even tomorrow. I need to go for it now, whatever that ends up meaning.

"Dude," said Junpei, "you should have seen the way she ran when she heard that you were back here at the house. If I hadn't picked her up in the car I think she would have run straight into traffic and gotten herself killed, she wanted to see you so badly. Trust me on this one, man; you don't want to pass this up."

Minako and Shinjiro both stared at Junpei for a moment. "Um," asked Minako carefully, "Junpei? Isn't there…something you should be doing right now? Somewhere else? You know, somewhere that isn't right here?"

"Huh? Oh, um, sure." Junpei flushed for a moment, then hurried off towards the stairs, muttering as he went, "Jeez, its' my house, not a damn love hotel. I really am the best wingman ever."

Minako smiled at his muttering, and couldn't help but agree, in her own mind, that he was right about the wingman thing. Shinjiro put a hand on her shoulder, and she looked up into his questioning eyes.

"Let's make up for what we lost," she begged him.

A familiar grin started to spread across Shinjiro's face, and this time he reached for her, holding her against him with one arm as he muttered, "I don't…really believe it," he told her. "For whatever its worth, I have dreams that end this way."

Minako arched her neck so that Shinjiro wouldn't have to bend down so far to kiss her again. She had just closed her eyes and begun to relax her body into the deepness of the kiss, when the doorbell rang.

"Shit," growled Shinjiro, reluctantly letting her go.

From the other side of the door, Minako could hear Yosuke's voice. He sounded annoyed. "Hey," he called, "is anybody in there? Are we going into the TV today, or what?"


	19. Chapter Eighteen

**Author's Note: **Dun dun DUN! Double update!

Wow, I got so much great feedback from you guys on the last chapter! Thanks for taking the time! I'll take all of it into account as we move forward with this story, and that's a promise.

**Reaper of the Rebels** made a good point. Allow me to clarify. The "bad" ending is not actually, like a bad ending full of zero effort and multiple typographical errors. I planned out three endings, each very different from the other two, and I like them all. I just thought this little multi-ending game might be a fun way to keep you all interested and on the edge of your seats! We don't have to play if you don't want to. I certainly don't want anyone feeling obligated to review against their will.

Okay, and now for some battling inside the TV world! Huzzah!

**Chapter Eighteen**

Minako, Shinjiro, and Junpei, accompanied by an irritated Yosuke were, for obvious reasons, the last ones to arrive inside the TV. The rest of SEES and of the investigation team were already there, and Minako could sense the tension in the room as soon as she walked into it. Fuuka and Rise were glaring daggers at each other across the room again, and many of the other members of both teams were warily keeping their distance from members of the opposite team. Surprisingly, Kanji and Ken had separated themselves from the throng, and were chatting in low voices off to the side.

Minako, Junpei, and Shinjiro hurried to join their team. Akihiko took one look at the flushed expression on her face, cast a glance over at Shinjiro, and smiled a deprecating little smile before turning away to talk to Mitsuru.

Well, crap, thought Minako, with an internal sigh of exasperation. This didn't look like it was going to be the most fun shadow-battling experience any of them had ever had.

"So," she announced, as brightly and enthusiastically as she could. All eyes in the room turned to focus on her, and not all of them felt friendly. "First thing on the agenda today is talking to Igor and Margaret about that key we found. Kanji?"

Kanji produced the double-handled key. "I got it right here," he assured her.

"Okay," Minako smiled the forcedly cheerful smile of a reluctant leader under duress. "Let's head into the Velvet Room."

"Buddy system time!" quipped Junpei, picking up on Minako's mood. "Does everybody have your battle buddy? Make sure you take your buddy by the hand, and do not leave your buddy until you have all hands and arms inside the Velvet Room!"

Minako laughed. Junpei winked at her. Thank heavens, she thought, some things, at least, never change.

Igor was, of course, waiting eagerly for them inside the Velvet Room. His eyes twinkled with fiendish delight as they began to pass through the door in pairs. Margaret, on the other hand, looked tired. There were dark circles creasing her normally smooth and perfect eyelids. The exhaustion made her look more human, which was both comforting and unsettling at the same time.

"It seems," said Igor, before Minako had even tried to open her mouth, "that you have a question for me."

For the umpteenth time, she asked herself, whether Igor could read her mind. It was either that, or she had a really terrible poker face. "Yeah," she said out loud, "We do. It's about this key."

Kanji dutifully held up the double key and Igor leaned forward to scrutinize it carefully. For some reason, the sight of the key seemed to amuse him. "Interesting," he murmured, "very interesting. So that, then, is where they are hiding."

"Where's 'that?'" asked Yosuke, impatiently. Minako didn't blame him. Igor took some getting used to.

Instead of answering, Igor looked at Margaret, who pointed over at a door that, as far as Minako knew, had not been there when they'd come to the Velvet Room the day before. This door was significantly larger than all the rest, and displayed an intricate pattern of four large glowing locks, each of which had space for two keys placed side by side, or, more probably, one key that consisted of two keys fused together.

"Where does that lead?" she asked, not expecting an answer.

Margaret shook her head. "I do not know," she admitted. "It was not there before. I can only assume that it is a construct of Elizabeth and Theodore's wills."

"It seems," added Igor, silencing Margaret with a look, "that you have already obtained the first of the keys required to enter the sanctum of our former residents. Three keys remain to be found."

Thank you, captain obvious, thought Minako. From the look on Yosuke's face, she could tell that he was thinking pretty much the same thing.

"Oh boy…" Junpei's voice, sounding less than enthusiastic, came from behind Minako, and she turned to see him holding up one of the small brass keys. "I guess it's my turn today, huh? Jeez, warn a guy next time." This last bit was directed at the universe in general, so Minako ignored it.

It took a few minutes for the other key to surface. Everyone present began digging in pockets and bags, each of them relieved to find his or herself empty handed. Finally, a female voice from somewhere within Yosuke's party spoke up. "Um…I've got one too."

It was the short haired girl who so often made comments from the peanut gallery. Minako thought that she had heard Yosuke call her "Chie-chan," once before.

Chie looked over at Junpei. "Uh," she asked, "you're not…afraid of thunderstorms, are you?"

"Huh? Me? No way, man." Junpei snorted. "That's kid stuff."

Yosuke laughed. "That's good, because there are gonna be thunderstorms in there for sure."

Together, Junpei and Chie approached the second door, each with a key in hand. Minako and Yosuke accompanied them by mutual unspoken agreement.

"Here goes," muttered Junpei.

Chie nodded. "Ready? One, two, three-!"

She pulled upon the door with a hasty tug, and, almost immediately, a colossal thunderclap cascaded over their ears. Chie shrieked and covered her head with her hands. Yosuke rolled his eyes.

"Come on," he said, and, dragging Chie by the wrist, he walked through the doorway, followed quickly by Junpei and Minako.

At least, thought Minako with some relief, this landscape looked a little more…normal. True, everything was dark, and the occasional flashes of lightening gave Minako only brief glimpses of tall, austere buildings and deserted, partially paved roads. Still, the lack of dancing, patchwork animals made her feel as though she had her bearings a bit better this time around.

"So," said Chie conversationally, her voice shaking as she stared at the sky, apparently trying to judge when the next bolt of lightning would strike, "This is…awkward. Are you afraid of the dark, Junpei-san? Is that why it's so dark in here?"

"Tch." Junpei ignored her. Instead he turned to Minako, and asked, "So, where do you think the bad guys are? Think they're lying in wait for us in that alley up there?"

Minako shrugged. "You'd know better than me," she told him. "After all, these are your nightmares."

"Yeah, well," muttered Junpei, "I don't know about that. See, in my nightmares, there are always…hey, watch out!"

Junpei threw himself at Minako, and shoved her bodily out of the way just as a large black sedan came careening out of nowhere and almost rammed right into her. As the car drove off into the night, Minako could see the two glowing yellow eyes perched on top of its hood.

"There. I found the bad guys," she told him. Junpei took a deep breath.

"Oh!" said Chie, "now that makes sense! I mean, so many people die in cars, every day. My dad's always nagging at me to be careful on the road, because the rate of car accidents has gone way, way up in the last two years, so it's a totally rational fear! Eek!' Another clap of thunder sent Chie scurrying over to Yosuke's side.

Minako had to hand it to the girl. Even while Chie was clearly mortally terrified of the thunder and lightning, she seemed to be genuinely trying to make Junpei feel better, remarking on how his fears were rational and that there was nothing to be ashamed of. Chie had a certain spunk to her that Minako couldn't help but like, and there was no way for Chie to know that no amount of smiling and cheery conversation on her part was going to make Junpei any happier. After all, hadn't Chidori died in a car crash? No doubt that was the memory that was haunting him in his sleep, and was subsequently now making an appearance in this nightmare shadow world.

"It's not that," muttered Junpei. "I don't…I'm not afraid of cars. I have a car, and I'm a damn good driver, too."

"Oh?" began Chie. "Well, then, what-?"

"It's the other drivers on the road," Junpei continued. "You can't rely on them to do the right thing, you can't assume that they're not gonna do something stupid and get someone killed. Everything's fine when I'm driving, because I'm in control, but…when it's someone else, all I can do is watch and hope for the best. I hate that feeling, knowing that there's nothing I can do if something goes wrong."

Another car, this one grey and white, sped by, and this time Minako was ready. She dodged nimbly out of the way, and watched as Junpei scowled at it.

Now that she thought about it, Junpei had never been particularly good at dealing with not being in control. When she'd been elected leader of SEES, he'd quite frankly thrown what could only be described as a hissy fit. Junpei needed control, needed to be able to call the shots and have the last laugh. Chidori's death, Minako now saw, really hadn't been any different. Whether she had died because of car trouble, or because she had taken her own life, Junpei hadn't, and wouldn't have been able to stop her. You can't control someone else's car, and you can't control someone else's feelings. You can only encourage, love, and hope for the best.

Chie was nodding understandingly. "Yeah, that makes sense," she said. "I mean, lots of things are like that. It's easy to fight something when it's up to you whether you win or lose. Like the shadows. We can fight them, because everything depends on the choices we make. If we screw up, well, that's it, we're dead, but…at least we could take a crack at it. Not everything's like that, right?"

Another bolt of lightning struck, not ten feet from where Chie was standing. This time, she didn't scream, but only flinched slightly, and sighed. "I don't have a lightning persona. Mine's all physical attacks and ice. Some people know how to predict just when thunderstorms are going to hit, but…even the weathermen are usually wrong about that stuff. Sometimes big storms can kill people right out in the open, in the middle of fields on days that were sunny just hours before! You can't predict them, really, and you can't be sure what they're gonna do. Natural disasters, you know? That's…that's scary stuff. You know what else is like that? Tsunamis. Tsunamis are scary."

A rumbling sound, like waves crashing against some distant foreign object came from the walls on all sides. Minako bit her lip.

"I wish," complained Yosuke, "that you hadn't said tsunamis."

"B-but," insisted Chie, "it'll be okay! I don't think I've ever had a nightmare about a Tsunami! Not once."

Then, before Chie could say another word, Minako caught sight of one of the yellow-eyed vehicles driving full-tilt towards Junpei from behind. Lightning, thought Minako. It's a vehicle, a car, with a motor. It's mechanical, it will hate lightning.

"Izanagi" she shouted, grabbing at her persona card. Instantly the persona shot out of her and confronted the oncoming car. If she timed it just right, Minako realized, then…but would there be enough time? It was almost on top of her, and Junpei would get run over if she didn't do something fast.

"Junpei," she shouted, "move. Now."

Junpei didn't ask questions. He dodged out of the way at the exact moment that a bolt of lightning struck the ground where he had been standing. "Zio!" shouted Minako, and Izanagi's lightning bolt exploded out and intercepted the lightning that was in the process of hitting the earth. The two bolts formed one impressive column of electric death, and the car drove right through them, fizzling in an instant and erupting into a cloud of red and black shadow essence.

"Whoa," said Yosuke. "That was…seriously badass."


	20. Chapter Nineteen

**Author's Note: **I got a wonderfully constructive review from "anonymous" this week! Dear "anonymous," I wish I knew who you were so that I could thank you properly! Also, it seems, judging by some comments that I am getting, that many of you are not Shinjiro fans, so I'm really gonna work hard to try and convert you!

I apologize for the lack of update yesterday. I got home after 2 o'clock in the morning, tried typing up the chapter I'd written on the bus, and then gave up when I saw the number of typos and grammatical mistakes I was making.

Anyway, here it is now, better late than never!

**Chapter Nineteen**

"So…was that it? Was that the big boss?" asked Junpei, looking doubtful.

Minako began searching the ground for one of the large, brass double keys. She couldn't find one. "I don't think so," she said. "We'll have to go farther in."

"Great," sighed Chie. "Of course Kanji got the easy one. Now we have to do all the hard…eek!" Again, thunder crashed, and again, Chie panicked, jumping in surprise and scurrying to hide behind Yosuke.

"Look," said Junpei in exasperation, Chie, let me show you something."

Chie looked around warily at him. "What?"

"Next time you see lightning, start counting the seconds," Junpei instructed her. "You know, like, 'one-one thousand, two-one thousand.' Count until you hear the thunder, then stop. Every five seconds is one mile, so if the thunder and lightning are ten seconds apart, then the thunder's two miles away. Make sense?"

"Seriously?" Chie looked hopeful. "Does that really work?"

Junpei shrugged. "Course it does. So, if the lightning's close by, you run. Otherwise, you're fine."

"Wow." Chie cheered up a bit, and came out from behind Yosuke. "Okay, I'll try it. You know, you're a pretty nice guy, Junpei-san."

As the four of them walked down a back alley, keeping their eyes peeled for any more shadow cars, Chie began counting to herself every time she saw a bolt of lightning. "One-one thousand, two one-thousand, three-one thousand…" After a while, the sound of her voice died away, but Minako could still see her lips forming the words, "four one-thousand, five one-thousand," and so forth. Before long, Chie was leading the other three, forging ahead, given confidence by her brand new counting trick.

Then, just as they were turning a corner on one of the darkened streets, Chie suddenly came to a stop. "Um, guys," she said, the hesitant waver coming back into her voice, "The lightning's really close, now."

"Yeah," said Junpei, pointing just in front of him. "It's probably cause of that guy."

Minako looked up to see that standing in front of her, not three feet away, was a silver bearded giant, his brooding face inset with a shadow's glowing yellow eyes. He had a huge hammer in one hand, and a bolt of lightning poised to strike in the other.

"Thor the thunder god," she muttered. "He's an old Norse myth."

"Yeah," agreed Junpei, "I know. I went as him for Halloween once when I was a kid."

"Seriously, a god?" Yosuke was incredulous. "Last time it was just a stupid clown."

There was no time for more conversation. The shadow of Thor threw his lightning bolt, and at the same time sent his hammer crashing down towards Yosuke's head. Yosuke guarded himself to deflect the attack, but Chie took a hit on the shoulder from the lightning, and shrieked in pain.

"You said you could use ice attacks, right?" shouted Junpei. "So, let's see it. Show me what you got."

"I can't, " wailed Chie. "He's too strong, I don't have anything powerful enough to hurt him, even if I can hit him!"

She won't be able to hit him, thought Minako, especially not while she's panicking like that. On a whim, Minako called out, "Chie! Remember the trick with the counting! Count the seconds in between the lightning strikes!"

"Huh? How is that supposed to work?" asked Yosuke, as he blew a blast of ineffective wind energy into Thor's face, then hit the ground to avoid another blow.

"It's not," admitted Minako, as she sent a blast of healing in Chie's direction. "But at least it might distract her long enough to stop her from freaking out!"

Yosuke looked impressed. "Oh, yeah," he said, "Yeah, that's a pretty good idea."

Chie had begun dutifully counting the seconds, muttering "One one-thousand, two-one thousand, three-one thousand," while the battle around her raged. At first, it looked as though she'd never be able to attack at all, and Minako wondered if they were out of luck, and should try to retreat. After a few moments, however, Chie's face calmed, and the incessant counting began to get louder and more certain. One one-thousand," she said. "Two one-thousand. Three one-thousand!"

"Is it actually working?" asked Yosuke.

Minako shrugged.

With a roar, Chie's persona shout out of her mind, and lobbed a fierce burst of ice right into shadow Thor's face. The giant cringed, and the icicles that now clung to his beard began to weigh him down, so that he toppled over backwards on to the ground.

"He's down!" yelled Junpei. "Now's our chance! Let's go for an all-out attack!"

As one united front, they charged.

Once the battle was finally over, and Thor had dissolved into a puff of shadow essence, Minako retrieved the double key from the ground where it had fallen.

"Two down, two to go!" announced Yosuke triumphantly. "I think we're starting to get the hang of this!"

Minako tried to smile, but even as the thrill of victory faded away, she knew that every step they took towards the solution to the mystery of Yu's death was one step closer to the end for her. Junpei obviously knew it too, and he caught her eye as they all trekked back together through his and Chie's nightmare world. Minako looked away as soon as she met his gaze. She didn't want him to try to talk to her about it. After all, there wasn't anything left to say.

"There was no back up again," observed Chie, interrupting Minako's increasingly gloomy train of thought. "I was kinda hoping that Rise and Fuuka-san would figure it out by now."

Sure enough, the moment Minako stepped back into the Velvet Room, she found Rise in tears, and Fuuka looking vaguely annoyed, with the various party members clustered around them, looking worried.

"Hey, what's this all about?" asked Yosuke, hurrying to Rise's side. Rise didn't say anything. Instead hse sniffled and pointed at Fuuka.

"No luck, huh?" asked Minako. Fuuka just shook her head regretfully.

"Listen," began Yosuke, "how about we try taking turns being the support? If only one of you uses her persona, then it should still work, right? So, maybe, Rise, if you could help us out sometimes, and Fuuka-san, if you could take the other-!"

"No way!" Rise cut him off angrily. "That's way too risky. "What if she messes it up? You could get really hurt!"

"I'm afraid that I feel the same way," admitted Fuuka. "I'm not confident enough in Rise-chan's skills to trust her with your lives."

"My skills?" Rise was outraged. "My skills? You're the one who's causing the problem here!"

"Oookay," Junpei was stepped in between the two of them and held his arms out placatingly. "Look, let's change the subject for a second. Yosuke, man, I'm not going to be able to go inside the TV tomorrow. I've gotta work. Daidara-san is gonna be pretty pissed off about my taking the whole day today without even calling in sick."

Yosuke nodded. "Yeah, that makes sense. Okay, so, we'll count you out this time. Next time, though, you-!"

"But if I'm not going in," continued Junpei, "then Mina-tan's not going either.

Minako bristled, and glared at him, but Junpei didn't seem to notice. He had no right, she thought, to tell her where she was or was not going. After all, she may have been staying at his house, she may have even owed him a few favors, but that didn't give him the right to dictate her movements. She wasn't a child, although, she had to admit, looking around at the others, she was the youngest person in the room.

Even as Minako was trying to think of a witty, biting comeback, however, Yosuke spoke up. "Yeah, that's fine. Actually, there's somebody I want Minako-chan to meet, tomorrow, so…why don't we all use the day to get some things done. We'll meet back here the day after tomorrow, so that's…Wednesday. Let's say Wednesday at 1:00."

"Someone you want me to meet? Who?" asked Minako.

Yosuke shook his head. "You'll see," he told her. "I'll pick you up from Junpei's place tomorrow. Not sure when, so I have to make a phone call."

Everyone seemed to agree to the plan, and, in fact, several people looked relieved as both the SEES members and the investigation team filed back out of the Velvet Room, and then out of the TV entirely. Minako hunted around in the crowd until she found Junpei, determined to have some harsh with words with him about inappropriately ordering her around.

"Hey," she began, "it's not okay for you to-!"

"Nothing's gonna happen to you while I'm not there to stop it," he said seriously. Minako went silent.

You know, she thought, you can't protect me forever, Junpei. The blow is going to fall, ther's nothing that we can do about it now. Still, somehow, she didn't have anything that she wanted to tell him anymore. Instead, she wandered off to talk to Yukari.

The two parties agreed that, after only one night sleeping on the floor or in the cars outside at Junpei's place, that arrangement was not going to work. Yukari claimed to have woken up so stiff and sore that she'd been glad when she hadn't needed to use her persona, because she really wasn't sure she would be able to. Other people added their voices to the torrent of complaints, until finally Mitsuru and Akihiko again agreed to shell out for a set of rooms at the Amagi Inn. There were cheers and sighs of relief when everyone heard that, and Minako wondered idly when her friends had turned into such a pack of wimps.

They drove straight from Junes over to the inn, and the manager there was, or at least pretended to be delighted to see them back for a second night. Yosuke's friend with the long dark hair, Minako discovered, was named Yukiko Amagi, and was actually the daughter of the manager. It seemed that she had already mentioned to her mother than the group might be returning that evening, so that everything was already prepared for their stay, and the parties separated into small groups or pairs to drift off in the directions of each of their rooms.

Minako's heart began pounding a bit faster when she realized that she and Shinjiro were the only ones left standing by the front desk. She knew that Yukari would have saved a place for her, and would be expecting her to show up for the girls' night that they hadn't managed to have the last time they'd stayed. Really, Minako thought, she ought to go, and yet…Yosuke had interrupted her and Shinjiro when they'd been, well…rediscovering each other earlier that day. Maybe now was the time for them to take up where they had left off.

"Shinji," she began, "can I come to-!"

"No." He cut her off, shaking his head firmly, and Minako blinked at him in surprise. Seeing the slightly hurt look on her face, Shinjiro put a hand on her shoulder, and said, more gently this time, "No. Not tonight. Listen, we…" He said, and then laughed a low, deprecating laugh. "Jeez, I never know how to say this stuff. Here, come with me for a bit."

Shinjiro led Minako across the hall, and then down a flight of steps into what appeared to be the inn's kitchens. They were beautiful kitchens, well stocked and studiously cleaned, unlike the one at Junpei's house, which had counters and sinks still caked with leftover pieces of dried ramen, and, unexpectedly, banana peels.

"Are we supposed to be here?" asked Minako warily. "It looks like everyone has gone home for the night. I don't think the staff would like it if they knew that we were snooping around in here."

"Nah, it's all right. I talked to that Amagi girl about it," Shinjiro assured her. "She liked the idea, so she said that I could use the place and that she'd cover for me later."

Still not sure exactly what was going on, Minako gave him a questioning look. Shinjiro frowned, and sat down on a nearby stool, gesturing for her to come and take one as well.

"Back at Gekkou," he began slowly, obviously taking care to choose his words, "we didn't have…a lot of time. Every time you and I were together, we were either eating cheap ramen after hours in some fast food joint, or spending the night in my room. Hell, even now, ever since you came back most of the stuff we've done together has been…well, pretty physical."

Shinjiro looked away from her, and Minako felt herself blushing at the memories she had of him since she'd returned from the seal. They all seemed to be of confusing, interrupted embraces.

"I'm not Aki," Shinjiro was saying. "I know I say that a lot, but…I want you to know, I'm not good at this stuff. I've, uh…actually never had a girlfriend."

Minako's eyes opened wide. "Wait, never?"

Shinjiro blinked, and then his face flushed to match Minako's. "What? No! I mean, I've been with women. I've…had girls in my room before, like that, you know?" That didn't' seem to make it any better, and Shinjiro sighed in embarrassed exasperation.

"What I'm trying to say," he insisted, "is that I've never been good at the hand-holding and the lovey dovey stuff. I have no idea what girls like. I don't know where the nice places are to eat, and I don't usually care, but…with you, it's different. If we're gonna do this, then let's do it right."

"Shinji," said Minako, but then she wasn't sure what to say next. There was something so touching about the aggravated look on Shinjiro's face.

"So," he finished, nodding over at a set of kitchen utensils that were still laid out on the table, "I thought I'd make dinner. Just…for you and me. How's that sound?"

Minako smiled. "I'd like that," she said.

"


	21. Chapter Twenty

**Author's Note: **Honestly, I came home last night after what can only be described as a grueling full day in the theater, and was absolutely delighted to see all the great and considerate feedback you all sent me! It made my whole day better, thank you for taking the time!

Oh, and look! We've already cleared the "bad ending," and are now moving toward the "normal ending!" Fantastic! Oh, and I misspoke earlier, by the way. I accidentally said that I'll post the true ending if we have between 90 and 100 reviews, but I definitely meant between 80 and 100. Wow, now there are even typos in my author's notes…good grief.

Okay, I readily confess that this next chapter is mostly gratuitous fluff, but poor Minako needs a break from all the stress. I promise to return to your regularly scheduled angstfest ASAP! Actually, I have my first day off in AGES tomorrow, so Inauguration Monday might end up being a day for a double update!

**Chapter Twenty**

Shinjiro began pulling various food products out of his sack, apparently having come prepared.  
"Should have asked what you wanted to eat," he told her apologetically. "Then it wouldn't have been a surprise, though."

"I'm not picky," Minako insisted. "Honestly, I'm sure that anything you make will be delicious."

That seemed to please Shinjiro, who grinned at the compliment. "I wouldn't be too sure about that," he said. "It's been a while since I've cooked for anyone but myself."

"Here, I'll help." Rolling up her sleeves, Minako came over and rested her elbows on the table. Shinjiro's hand brushed briefly against hers as he reached across her to get a knife, and for some reason when he drew his hand away again, his face seemed to have reddened slightly. Minako felt the skin on her hand prickling excitedly where Shinjiro had touched her.

"If you want," he muttered, "you can wash those potatoes."

Minako brought the potatoes over to the sink. As she dutifully rinsed them off, she could hear the sound of Shinjiro's knife making neat, precise little clacking sounds against the cutting board. Glancing over her shoulder, she was amused by the very concentrated look on his face as he carefully diced an tomato.

"Don't look at me like that," he said, without even looking up.

Minako blinked. "What? But, how do you-?"

"It's distracting, knowing that you're staring." Shinjiro laid the tiny pieces of tomato to one side, and reached out for the potatoes, which Minako passed over to him.

I can't help it, she thought. Shinjiro may not have been a conventionally good looking guy, but there was something very attractive about the way he was focusing so intently on the task at hand. He really did have such wonderful, piercing eyes. If only he would smile a little more, and scowl a little less.

"Well? Got something on your mind?" Shinjiro put the knife down and looked up at her. Minako bit her lip.

"Oh, um, it's nothing," she said hurriedly. "What can I do next?"

Under Shinjiro's direction, Minako began to slice vegetables and prepare the greens for a side salad. She was no great cook, and had very little experience wielding a knife. Most of what she'd done in the kitchen had happened while she'd been trying to fix Fuuka's tragic mistakes. Compared to Shinjiro's deft, practiced movements, Minako felt that she was slow and clumsy with the kitchen tools, but she followed instruction well, and before long had a nice, green salad that she was proud to display. Shinjiro cast a critical eye over it.

"Fine," he said. "Thank you."

It wasn't exactly praise, but Minako tried not to be disappointed. After all, Shinjiro wasn't a particularly demonstrative guy, and for him 'fine' was a fairly impressive distinction.

Shinjiro may have claimed to be unsophisticated, and not to be aware of what kind of things women liked, but for all of that he was surprisingly good at preparing a romantic looking dinner. There was fettuccine pasta, sprinkled with basil and red stuff that was probably the very finely diced tomatoes that Shinjiro had been working on shortly before. There was also, next to the pasta bowl, and plate full of what looked to Minako like little doughy balls, filled with something the nature of which she couldn't guess.

"It's gnocchi," muttered Shinjiro, when he saw her staring at it. "It's got potato in it. Gnocchi's an Italian thing. You put it on the pasta." Glancing critically down at the spread, he added, "sorry, it's vegetarian. I hate vegetarian food, but…it's hard to carry meat around with you, it doesn't keep. I had to improvise."

Minako stared at him."You're not seriously apologizing for this, are you?"

Together, they pushed a chair and a stool around to either end of the table they'd been working at, cleared off the debris of cooking, and settled down to heat.

"Thanks for the food," said Minako enthusiastically.

Shinjiro smiled. "Heh, yeah. You look pretty happy. I bet you haven't been eating right the last couple of days."

Minako could not remember exactly what she'd eaten over the past few days, other than a really terrible and highly recommended piece of grilled steak at Junes. That didn't matter. The food looked wonderful, but there was more to it than that.

"That's not it," insisted Minako.

Shinjiro raised an eyebrow at her.

"I'm happy that you took the time to make this for me," she said, and then, corrected herself to say "for us, I mean. This is really sweet." Not sure of how this would go over, but determined to make the effort, Minako reached out across the table and covered his hand with hers.

Shinjiro stared very hard at his plate, and said, more gruffly than usual, "Go on, it'll get cold if you don't eat." Minako smiled to herself.

They ate together for a few minutes in companionable silence. Everything tasted absolutely perfect, and Minako knew that she was eating more than she should. She'd have to spend some time running around and exercising the next day, to make sure she burned off the extra calories. The idea of asking Akihiko to work out with her passed briefly through her mind, and she winced involuntarily, knowing that she couldn't do that anymore. Once, that would have been the highlight of her day, but now…

"What's wrong?" asked Shinjiro, and Minako silently cursed her really terrible poker face. "Something not taste good?"

"No, no, everything's great! It's just…" she fumbled for something to say. Under no circumstance, she thought, can I tell him that I was thinking of Aki. He's sensitive enough about that stuff as it is.

Before she had a chance to come up with a reasonable excuse, however, Shinjiro spoke up again. "It's what I said yesterday, huh? You still worried about that?"

Minako had no idea what he was talking about. "Um. Yes?" She said, hoping for the best.

Shinjiro nodded. "I figured you'd ask me about that." He sighed. "Okay. Listen, it was just two girls. Um, I mean, two different girls, not at the same time. One was Aki's friend. He had me take her home one night when she'd been drinking and…well, in the morning I left, and I didn't call her again. The other was this chick at the store. I wasn't even that interested, but it had been a long time, and…ugh." He shook his head. "I don't really want to talk about it. Is that enough?"

Minako was surprised. "Oh, um, yes! Right! That's fine, thank you for telling me." Honestly, she had to admit to herself, she hadn't even thought about it. When Shinjiro had said that he'd been with other women, for some reason it hadn't even registered with her. That didn't make a lot of sense. After all, she'd been terribly disappointed to find out that Aki had seen other girls while the two of them had been apart. Why didn't it bother her in this case?

Probably, came that wise little voice in the back of her mind, it's because you know just how much Shinjiro cares for you. You knew that almost as soon as he looked at you on your first day back. Those poor girls had probably been pretty disappointed to find out that Shinjiro was so hung up on a dead ex-lover. No girl wanted to hear that she had to compete with fond memories of the dearly departed.

"You never called her again?" Minako asked teasingly. "You're kind of a jerk, Shinji."

"What? What kind of a thing is that to say to a guy?" he asked, but he looked relieved. "Anyway, that stuff doesn't matter. I told you, there isn't anybody else. Now finish your salad."

Minako didn't just finish her salad, she finished everything on her plate. Looking up at Shinjiro to thank him once again for the excellent dinner, she watched a shudder pass through his body, making him drop his fork back on to the plate.

"You're still not feeling well?" she asked, concerned.  
"Forget it, it's just some stupid cold," he promised her, but Minako was aware now that the flush around his cheeks might not be entirely from embarrassment. Without thinking about it, she stood up, crossed to the other side of the table, and placed her hand against his forehead.

"Hey, quit that," he snarled at her, but she ignored him.

"You're feverish," she told him. "And it's late. You should be getting to bed."

Shinjiro glared at her. "Don't act like my mom," he said. "I can't tell you how weird that is."

Minako began clearing plates off the table, and taking them to the sink to wash. Despite her admonitions, Shinjiro got up and helped her clean the plates and dishes.

As they stood side by side, their hands immersed in soapy water, Minako asked, as casually as she could manage, "You're not still taking that stuff, are you?"

"Huh? What stuff?" Shinjiro looked at her. "Oh, you mean, the pills I was on in high school. The ones that controlled my persona. You don't seriously think I'd still be doing that shit, do you? Anyway, I almost never have to use the damn persona anymore. I don't even have to control it. And if I did…"

He trailed off, and Minako stared at him. "If you did…then what?"

"Then I know I could," he finished. "I've got plenty of reasons."

Minako let it go. It was enough for her, for the moment, that Shinjiro was off of the drugs, and she didn't want to harass him while he clearly wasn't feeling at his best. Then again, she reminded herself, he'd been sick since she'd arrived, or at least since he'd run after her that night at Junpei's place. Was it really only a cold, or had he been lying to her the whole time? Wouldn't he do something like that, to keep her from finding out, to 'protect' her from the truth?

The plate she was washing slipped out of her hands and clattered against the bottom of the sink. Shinjiro picked it up, looked at it for a moment, then put it back and turned to Minako.

"Hey," he said. "It's okay." Wiping one hand against his jeans to dry it, he reached over and brushed some stray hair out from in front of Minako's face, then leaned in and kissed her.

It wasn't like the kisses he'd given her before, urgent and intense. This was a very careful, almost tentative kiss, and as Minako relaxed herself into it, she felt him place his other hand steadyingly against her upper back, as though she might fall backwards and shatter like a fragile piece of dishware.

They stayed together like that for several long moments, and when Shinjiro finally broke away, Minako knew that the color in his face had nothing to do with fever.

"It's late," he muttered. "I'll finish up here. You should get to bed."

That's true, thought Minako. Yosuke had something planned for her tomorrow, and she had no idea what that was going to be all about. She wasn't tired, not at all, but that was probably just the excitement lingering on from the kiss, and the romantic evening.

"You should too," she said. "You're sick."

"Yeah, I will," he promised, nodding. "Won't take long down here."

Minako began walking towards the steps that would lead back up to the main floor of the inn. Before she started climbing, she turned back again to find Shinjiro watching her, the plate still dangling unheeded from his hands.

"Thank you, Shinji," she said, feeling like she couldn't possibly have found anything lamer to say. "Goodnight."

"Night," she heard him reply as she set off to look, belatedly, for Yukari's bedroom.


	22. Chapter Twenty One

**Author's Note: **

**ScarletApples! **You write me such wonderful, encouraging, thoughtful reviews, and yet I can't respond to you properly, because you are always a "guest!" Thank you for reading and taking the time to review! You asked a question about whether or not we are going to see Koromaru, and honestly…I am not a dog person. I do not know how to write stories about dogs. Dogs…do not interest me. However, because you and several other people have asked, I'll have him make an appearance in a few chapters, and I'll do my best to write him well. See, I'm a reasonable person!

So, **Maudlin Blase **mentioned that she listens to persona music when she's reading fanfic. That got me thinking, I have some music that I listen to while I'm writing this story, to help keep me in the right mood. I thought I'd list a few of the tracks in case you all want some cool new music to listen to while you read.

AWOLNATION – Kill Your Heroes

Sarah Maclachlan – I Will Not Forget You (not to be confused with "I Will Remember You")

David Gray – Nemesis

Florence + The Machine – Rabbit Heart

Muse – Time is Running Out

When I said yesterday that today would be a return to the usual Minako angst, I meant it. And here it is.

**Chapter Twenty One**

Minako could not sleep in the next morning. She carefully got out bed, tiptoed past the still sleeping Yukari, and slipped out the door, hoping to get a chance to talk to Shinjiro before everyone else was wok up. She hadn't been able to stop thinking about him all night, and sleeping had been difficult for her while she'd been so eager to see him again.

Before she had made it even four paces down the hallway towards Shinjiro and Ken's room, however, Minako was disappointed to find that she wasn't the only person around who had managed to get up early. Yosuke, who must have convinced Yukiko to let him in before check-out even started, came walking towards her , and there wasn't time for her to find a place to hide in which to avoid him.

"Morning," he said. "Hey, you're up early. Ready to go?"

Go away, thought Minako. "Good morning," she said instead. "Um, where are we going?"

Yosuke turned around and began walking back towards the inn's entrance. Minako, albeit reluctantly, tagged along behind him. "You'll see," he told her. "Don't worry, I'm not taking you anywhere dangerous. There's just something that I think you need to see. Trust me, it'll make sense when we get there."

Well, thought Minako, he probably isn't going to kill me. If he does, then he may never see his friend again, and he definitely knows that by now, so how bad can this possibly be?

They got into Yosuke's car, and he drove them away from the inn, towards a quiet neighborhood not too different from Junpei's own. Minako begin to get an inexplicably bad feeling about this little trip when Yosuke stopped the car in front of a one-family home with a scooter parked out front, and a little, hand-made garden visible around the side of the house.

"This is Narukami's house, isn't it?" Minako asked, unsure of just exactly how she knew that.

"Actually," admitted Yosuke, "Yu lives in the city. This is his uncle's place."

"Why did you bring me here?" Minako began, but almost before she finished speaking, the front door opened, and a little girl came running out, calling to Yosuke. The girl had on a pink dress covered by a pretty white sweater, and long brown hair that bounced around her shoulders as she hurried towards them.

Yosuke opened the door and got out of the car, intercepting the little girl as she gave him a big, friendly hug. "Nanako-chan," he said, and Minako was somewhat surprised to see the affectionate smile light up his face. Up until this moment, most of what she had seen of Yosuke had been either determined and harsh, or mocking and unsympathetic. That, of course, probably stemmed from his grief and concern over the loss of his best friend. Still, Minako hadn't really expected him to be fond of children.

"Dad's not home right now," said Nanako. "He's at work on…on that case." She bit her lip, and tears began welling up in her eyes. Angrily, she brushed them away.

"It's okay," Yosuke assured her. "I don't mind."

"No," insisted Nanako fiercely. "I'm not gonna cry. I'm eight years old now, I don't have to cry. Big Bro wouldn't like me to cry."

In the forcedly stoic expression on Nanako's face, Minako recognized something that she knew she'd felt so many times before, while trying to put a brave face on for the rest of the party, or when attempting to convince herself that, contrary to all evidence, things were really going to turn out all right. It was terrifying to see that same expression on the face of an eight year old. Children that age were supposed to be carefree and unhindered by that sort of grief.

"Nanako-chan," said Yosuke gently, "I want you to meet someone. This is Minako. She's….she's a friend of your cousin's from the city."

"Oh." For the first time, Nanako looked up at Minako, and tried to smile. "You know Big Bro?"

Minako didn't know what to say. "Yes, I…" she managed, then stopped, and decided instead on the slightly less mendacious phrase, "He and I have a lot in common."

Nanako gave her a genuinely welcoming smile. "Then…I'm pleased to meet you." She bobbed a polite little bow. "If Big Bro likes you, you must be a nice person. All of his friends are always nice people. Um…would you like to come in?"

They went inside the house, and Nanako encouraged them to sit down around the table. "Would you like some coffee?" she asked. "Normally dad is the one who makes the coffee, but…he hasn't been feeling very well lately, so I guess now I'm old enough to do it." She said it with a mixture of childish pride and wistfulness in her voice, and again, Minako felt a stab of guilt that she knew she didn't really deserve.

"I hate you," she muttered under her breath to Yosuke, just softly enough that Nanako couldn't hear.

Yosuke feigned innocence. "Huh? What's that for?" he asked. His poker face wasn't really much better than hers, Minako thought.

"How's Teddie?" asked Nanako, as she busied herself with the coffee pot. She had to get a stool, Minako noticed, so that she could reach all of the various kitchen implements she needed.

"He's great," Yosuke told her. "He's pretty busy with stuff at Junes right now, but he misses you. I'll bring him over soon, okay? How about on Friday?"

Nanako and Yosuke chatted for a while about friends, school, and all of the other day-to-day things that people make small talk about. While they talked, Minako sipped her coffee and took a quick look around at the room she was sitting in. It was set up for three, with a sofa sitting next to a mismatched armchair over by the television set. The armchair, which so clearly had been purchased separately from the rest of the living room set, looked old, but comfortable. Perhaps, thought Minako, it came from a thrift store or local garage sale. It was the sort of thing people added to the living room at the last minute, when a guest came to stay, or there was a sudden and unexpected new addition to the household.

The walls of the room were also covered in photographs, many of which depicted, in some form or other, Nanako and an older, grizzled looking man in a police uniform. Some of the pictures also showed a beautiful woman, presumably Nanako's mother, while others showed Yu Narukami smiling in the mother's place. There were also hand-done drawings of the same groups of people, presumably made by Nanako, who even Minako had to admit was more skilled with a crayon than the average eight year old.

So this is what it looks like to be a family, said the little voice in the back of Minako's mind. She stood up and walked over to one of the drawings so that she could examine it more closely. Once she was up close, Minako could see that the two figures of Narukami and Nanako were holding hands. There was a big yellow sun in the background, and every person in the picture was wearing an open-mouthed smile.

"My teacher says that I'm good at art," said Nanako, coming over to join Minako by the wall. "Oh, here's your coffee. Sorry it took so long, um…I'll practice more so I get faster at making it."

"No, it's perfect, thank you," Minako insisted. "Your teacher's right, this is a beautiful picture. I like how everyone in it seems to be so happy."

"Thanks!' Nanako seemed proud of her work. "We are very happy!"

We are, thought Minako. She's still using the present tense. Shooting a glance over to the table, Minako saw that Yosuke was watching her. Suddenly, she decided that she'd had enough.

"It was so nice to meet you, Nanako-chan. I'm sorry, but Yosuke and I have to go now," she said.

"Oh, all right…" Nanako looked disappointed. "Will you come again? I want…to talk about Big Bro. Is that okay?"

There was absolutely no way that Minako could possibly refuse. "Of course I will," she promised. "I'll come soon, and we'll have lots of time to talk, okay?" Minako was surprised to realize that she meant every word of it.

"Next time," added Yosuke, "we'll come pick you up, and we'll all go to Junes together. Teddie, Chie, Yukiko, and everyone will be really glad to see you."

"Yeah," agreed Nanako, her face brightening slightly. "Don't forget, okay?"

Nanako waved goodbye from the doorway as Minako and Yosuke drove off in the car. Yosuke kept his eyes on the road, but Minako knew that he was waiting for her to say something.

"You don't understand," she told him. "You didn't have to do that."

"Do what?" he asked.

Minako could feel the anger welling up inside her, and for once she didn't try to keep a lid on it. "Shut up!" she railed at him. "Stop acting like you don't know what I'm talking about. I'm not an idiot, okay? Neither are you. You brought me here because you wanted me to see how much hurt I had caused, right? You wanted me to see how sad Nanako was, how I'd broken up some poor guy's family. That's why we came here. I dare you to tell me that I'm wrong."

Yosuke didn't anything.

"What you don't get," continued Minako, deciding to let it all out now that she was on a roll, "is that you don't have to do stuff like this. I'm not trying to get out of it, okay? I'm not trying to run away. You can show me a hundred people, all of whom were hurt by Narukami's death, and it won't change my mind even a little bit. It doesn't have to, okay? I said I was going to see this through, and that's what I'm going to do, so knock it off with the guilt trips. You can't make this any better by trying to make it hurt me more. That won't bring him back any faster."

Yosuke cleared his throat. "Yeah," he said. "I'm sorry. It's not..I just wanted you to see what it looks like when you lose someone you care about, that's all. I'm not trying to make you feel guilty."

"Liar," said Minako.

"No, I'm not," he insisted. "I just know it's hard to think about how somebody else must feel. I mean, sometimes it's hard for me to imagine how Dojima and Nanako are feeling, losing their family like that. He was my partner, and I…but to them, he was family."

They drove along in silence for a few moments, before Minako said. "I don't have to imagine. I know what it feels like. My parents died when I was six."

"Oh." Yosuke sounded genuinely taken aback. "I…I didn't know that."

"Well," muttered Minako, settling back in the seat and turning away from him. "Now you do."


	23. Chapter Twenty Two

**Author's Note: **Here is today's second update! Might we even be able to fit three updates in today? Honestly, I do not know, it will depend on how long it takes me to finish the long-awaited vacuuming of my entire house. No reason not to be optimistic, though, right?

There's…well, um, this one has more angst in it. I'm sure you're absolutely shocked by that. Anyway, the chapter after this one takes us back to the TV world, hooray! Just bear with the angst for a few more pages and then we can destroy shadows again. I promise.

**Chapter Twenty Two**

"I'm sorry," said Yosuke, as they continued driving back in the direction of Junpei's house. "Um…do you want to talk about it?"

Minako stared at him blankly. There was no way, she thought, that he had seriously just said those words out loud."No," she said firmly, when it was clear that Yosuke was honestly waiting for an answer to his question. "No, I do not want to 'talk about it.' It was ten years ago." Actually, she realized, it was probably thirteen years ago, if she counted the ones during which she was dead. "It has been a very long time since I have needed to 'talk about it.'"

That, of course, was a lie, of sorts. One never, Minako knew, entirely got over the loss of one's parents. Still, she hated that incredibly awkward, condescending question.

"What I'm saying is," she continued, carefully steering the conversation back on to the intended track, "that you don't know anything about me. Don't make assumptions about what I know, or about who I am. I'm not doing this for you, anyway."

That begged the question, Minako realized as Yosuke drove on in contemplative silence, who exactly was she doing it for?

"Yeah," agreed Yosuke. "Like I said, I'm sorry. I screwed up."

This conversation felt a bit to Minako like various squabbles she'd had with classmates in middle school, all of which seemed to have ended with something that resembled the phrase "nobody understands me." It was frankly a bit immature, and she wasn't sure if that was her fault or Yosuke's fault. What was really bizarre was that they were having one of the most immature conversations in her recent memory about a life or death situation, which would, quite literally, end in life for one person and death for another. It was alarmingly surreal. She couldn't help it. She laughed out loud, but it wasn't a happy sort of laugh.

Yosuke stared at her. "You okay?" he asked, clearly feeling that she wasn't.

"No. Maybe." Minako shrugged. She felt a little lightheaded. Maybe she was thinking too much.

"Yeah. Okay." Yosuke nodded slowly. "Um. You want to stop for some lunch?"

"Yes," said Minako. "Yes, fine." After a moment's consideration, she added, "but not at Junes." There were always so many people at Junes that she knew she'd end up running into one of her friends, or one of Yosuke's friends, many of whom seemed to be even more clueless than he was. Right now, all she wanted was to be alone. Not alone with Yosuke, just alone, but she'd take whatever she could reasonably get at this point.

They pulled over in front of a very colorful place in the shopping district, with a sign that read "Chinese Diner Aiya." Yosuke, who seemed to really be feeling badly about the guilt thing with Nanako, came around to Minako's side of the car, and opened the door for her. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Um, do you eat Chinese food?" he asked.

Minako almost said, "I'll eat it if you're paying," but decided not to at the last minute. Yosuke did look pretty remorseful, and, besides, when she really thought about it, she had to admit that there was no way he could have known about her parents.

"Yeah, that sounds great," she said. They went into the diner together.

When they were both sitting down, and Minako was happily munching her way through some beef fried rice, Yosuke cleared his throat again and said, "I don't really know how to deal with this."

"Hmm?" asked Minako, looking up. "You might want to start by trying chopsticks."

"No," muttered Yosuke, not even taking the time to glare at her. "I mean, this thing with…with Yu. And, with you. I thought that I'd been up against the scariest stuff there was out there, back when we all solved those cases inside the TV world. But now I have to bring my best friend back from the dead, and…"

You're never exactly going to know how to deal with it, thought Minako. It's never going to be something that you get used to.

"You've been dead," finished Yosuke. "What's that like?"

"Um." Minako blinked at him. She didn't have an answer to that. She didn't actually remember the whole 'being dead' part. She remembered the dying, and the coming back to life, but the stuff in between was just…it was nothing. It was a lack of existence. That's what death really was, and somehow, she didn't think that he, or anyone else for that matter, was really going to want to hear that.

"Did it hurt?" he pressed her.

She relented a little, seeing the genuine frustration in his eyes. "No," she promised him, "it didn't hurt. Not at all."

"Oh, that's good." Yosuke nodded to himself as though he'd understood something, even though Minako wasn't sure exactly what it was. "I don't want him to…to be in any pain, you know?"

Up until that moment, Minako really hadn't known. If he hadn't asked that question, maybe she never would have. Out of all the innumerable questions that he probably had bout life, death, and shadows, however, Yosuke had chosen to ask about the pain. He really, sincerely cared about Yu, in a way that Minako wished more people in the world cared about each other. If people made a habit of really feeling about each other the way that Yosuke clearly did about Yu, maybe there would have been fewer shadows to deal with. Yosuke's heart was a lot more genuine that Minako had ever taken the time to realize.

"He's my best friend," Yosuke pleaded. He wasn't the sort of guy who usually did anything that could be interpreted as "pleading," and Minako sighed. She had a best friend too, and right now she didn't even want to imagine the way that her death was going to break Junpei's heart. Somehow, even if it was the second time around, Minako doubted that it was going to hurt less.

"We're going to get him back," she promised, and patted Yosuke comfortingly on the hand. That seemed a little strange, seeing as he was a full year older than she was, but Yosuke didn't appear to mind.

"Wow," he said, with a nervous little laugh. "This conversation is something else. I wonder what the people at the other tables must be thinking. I bet they can hear us."

"They probably think that we're insane." Minako shrugged. "Now that right there, that's something that you'll get used to."

Before heading back to the house, Yosuke and Minako drove over to Daidara's shop, where they found Junpei working behind the counter.

Sup," he said, eyeing Yosuke warily the moment they walked in. "Everything go okay on your secret mission?"

Junpei caught Minako's eye significantly, and she hastened to reassure him. "Everything's fine," she insisted. Junpei visibly relaxed.

"So," he began again, in a more cheerful, businesslike tone of voice, "what can I get you guys today? We've got the very finest in armor and weaponry that you'll find anywhere in Inaba. Can I interest the lovely lady in a new naginata? Or maybe…" Darting away for a moment, Junpei rummaged around in some trunks behind the counter, coming back with a beautifully hand-crafted chainmail shirt. He held it up to his chest, and struck an exaggeratedly valiant pose. "Check it out, Mina-tan! I'm your knight in shining armor!"

Minako laughed.

She, Junpei, and Yosuke spent a long time looking around Daidara's shop, poking at this and that, swinging swords and knives around, and generally behaving inappropriately with what were really very valuable and well-crafted pieces of artwork. Daidara himself, Junpei told them, had stepped out for a lunch break, andJunpei assured his friends that the old man was the sort to take forever over his food.

"Hey, what about this, huh?" Junpei held up what appeared to be an armor bikini, studded and spangled with various unnecessarily shiny touches. "I bet Shinjiro-san would be speechless if he saw you in this. Not that he usually says that much anyway. He'd love it, right?"

Minako went bright red. "That's enough of that," she insisted, snatching the bikini out of Junpei's outstretched hands and laying it carefully and distastefully aside. "How could something like that be considered 'art?'"

"Oh, I know some girls who'd look like a real work of art wearing that, right Yosuke-kun?" Junpei leered at her. "Come on; don't knock it if you've never tried it!"

"Don't drag me into this," said Yosuke, shaking his head. "Your creepy kinks aren't anything that I want to know about."

In the end, Minako made some purchases, mostly of useful accessories, and of a pair of sturdier looking boots to help with long stretches inside the TV world. After he got off work, Junpei, Yosuke, and Minako all drove back together to Junpei's house.

Everybody else was already there, hanging out on the couch, watching television, eating Fuuka's dubious attempts at snack foods. It looked to Minako as though it would be another long night curled up on the floor, unless Mitsuru and Akihiko were planning to pay, yet again, for the inn. There had, she thought, to be a better long-term solution to the problem of sleeping arrangements. After all, even Mitsuru wasn't actually made of money.

Then again, she told herself, forcing herself, there didn't really need to be a long term solution. At least, not for her. When she finally finished her mission, no doubt the others would go home, back to the lives they had broken off when Junpei had called them over only a few days before. She expected that thought to hurt, the way it always did, but…this time, Minako somehow felt as though that was the way it should be.

"Hey, Minako-chan! You're back!" Yukari hailed her from the depths of the sofa. Minako hurried over to join her.

"Hey," Junpei was asking Yosuke, "you want to come in for a bit? I promise, Fuuka's cooking will not actually kill you. I think."

Yosuke glanced at Minako, and opened his mouth to answer, then shut it again, bit his lip, and shook his head. "Nah," he said, "um, thanks, but…I have to get going."

Minako watched the door close behind Yosuke. Just for a moment or two, she thought she saw him standing in the middle of the street, with his hands in his pockets, staring over his shoulder at the house, before he got back into his car and drove off into the night.

**An hour later, at the Dojima residence…**

Nanako opened the door to find Yosuke standing on the front step for the second time that day. "Yosuke!" she said, a delighted smile breaking over her face, "you're back! Yay! Did you forget something?"

"No, I didn't forget anything, I just…" Yosuke frowned. "Can I come in?"

"Of course!" Nanako jumped aside to make room for Yosuke. "Sorry, dad's still at work. He said that he'll be home really late."

"Oh, yeah?" asked Yosuke. "Well, maybe you and I can hang out together until he gets home."

Nanako beamed at him. "Okay!" Looking past him through the open door, she asked, "Did Minako have to go home to her mom and dad tonight? Did you get lonely?"

Yosuke laughed darkly. Minako did sort of have to go home to her mom and dad, in a manner of speaking. There was something grotesquely amusing about that, in a way that he didn't like at all. "Yeah," he said, "something like that. She's nice, isn't she?"

Nanako nodded. "Mmm-hmm. Ooh, we have sodas that dad got from Junes. Do you want one?"

Nanako went to the fridge to get each of them a soda. While she was busy in the kitchen, Yosuke went over to examine the same drawing that he'd caught Minako looking at. The drawing had Dojima standing protectively over a slightly too-tall Nanako and a Yu with a big heart on his t-shirt. Yu and Nanako were holding hands, and everyone was smiling almost manically up into Yosuke's face.

Yosuke tried to smile back at him, but inside, he felt a little queasy.


	24. Chapter Twenty Three

**Author's Note: **Whoa, three updates in one day…

So, everybody knows that today is the inauguration, right? Well, public transportation in DC is basically unusable today, so I haven't even left the house. It wouldn't have been worth it to try getting on the metro. I didn't have work at either of my jobs, my classes were canceled, I couldn't run any of my errands, I did my vacuuming, my laundry, sent all of the necessary emails, worked heavily on my lines for two different shows, did my roommate's dishes, took a nap, called my boyfriend…and now it's only 9:33. It's…honestly a little disturbing.

I guess I'd better do another update. It may be years before I see a day like this one again!

**Chapter Twenty Three**

Ouch. That was the first thought that passed through Minako's gradually waking mind as she peeled herself off the floor of Junpei's house the next morning. Next to her, Yukari was curled up in what looked like an unnecessarily contorted version of the fetal position, and Fuuka was splayed out on her back with her arms and legs making the shape of some kind of demented starfish. Minako wondered with some amusement if the other girls knew what they looked like when they slept.

Shinjiro was sleeping several feet away from her, lying on his side with both hands clenched into fists. As quietly as she could, Minako tiptoed over snoring bodies until she reached him, then knelt down beside him and leaned in to kiss him on the cheek.

Almost as soon as she touched him, however, his hand shot out and grabbed her by the back of the neck. Minako shrieked, and Shinjiro shot upright, one hand already in his pocket for his evoker. The two of them froze for a moment, staring at each other.

"Jeez," muttered Shinjrio, immediately letting go of Minako. She began massaging the place on her neck where his fingers had dug into her skin. "Don't do shit like that. Did I hurt you?"

"No, I'm fine," lied Minako.

Reaching around her, Shinjiro brushed back her hair to reveal angry red finger marks across her skin. He looked horrified. "That looks pretty bad. I…you should have…here, let me get you a-!"

"Honestly," interrupted Minako, "I'll be fine." She was embarrassed. Of course it had been a stupid idea to sneak up on Shinji. After all, hadn't he spent years hanging out with Akihiko? Akihiko had a habit of getting physical when he was angry. Shinji would, of course, be the sort of guy who was always on the alert and ready for a fight. "You've…got good reflexes," she managed.

"Yeah," agreed Shinjiro quietly. He sighed. "At least let me get you a cold towel or something."

"I've got it," said Yukari. Minako turned to see Yukari standing there, holding out a wet compress, presumably from Junpei's bathroom. She wasn't the only one, either. It looked like the commotion had women up the entire group, and now all of them were sitting around on the floor, staring at Minako and Shinjiro.

"And Yosuke said that I was into kinky stuff," murmured Junpei. "Psh, wait till I tell him about this.""

"That's not…it isnt'…I was never going to…" Minako knew that her face was bright red.

"Shut up, Stupei," said Yukari. Helping Minako to her feet, Yukari pushed the towel into her hands. "Come on, let's take a look that wound." Together, they walked off towards the bathroom, leaving the rest of the party to finish waking up.

When Minako and Yukari returned, most people were looking a bit more alive.

Akihiko intercepted Minako as she tried to walk casually past him. "Hey, you okay?" he asked.

"Fine," mumbled Minako. "Thank you."

"Sure." Akihiko glared over at Shinjiro, who glared back with equal venom. "If he gives you any trouble, you tell me. Got it?"

There were a lot of things that Minako could have said. She was just trying to figure out which one to start with when, all of a sudden, Shinjiro was in front of her, getting right up in Akihiko's face.

"What're you saying?" he asked, in a low, dangerous voice. "You saying I'd hurt her on purpose? That I'm some kind of abusive freak?"

Akihiko shrugged. "Tch. On purpose or not, who cares? You hurt her just now, didn't you?"

"Hey!" Minako pushed her body in between them, forcing Shinjiro and Akihiko both to look at her. "I said I'm fine, okay? Forget it, I was being stupid anyway."

Reluctantly, Shinjiro and Akihiko drifted off in opposite directions. From somewhere behind Minako, Junpei whistled under his breath. "Damn," he commented. "That was awkward."

Yukari stared at him incredulously. "Junpei? Seriously, shut up!"

The rest of the morning was considerably less lively. Junpei let Minako use his shower, and she changed into some of the new clothes she'd bought at Junes with money that she'd recently won from fighting shadows in the TV world. Feeling a bit more like a human being after that, she came back down the stairs to find Yosuke and his friends already lounging around by the door, apparently waiting for the members of SEES to get their act together.

"Hey," said Yosuke, nodding when Minako came into the room.

"Hey," she said. "Ready to fight some nightmares?"

For some reason, Yosuke's reply didn't sound very enthusiastic. "Yeah, sure."

Yet again, they all piled into various cars and made the drive over to Junes. Yosuke let them into the electronics department, and before too long they were all standing in front of Igor and Margaret.

"Welcome," began Igor, "to the-!"

Minako and Yosuke totally ignored him. Instead, they walked over towards the row of doors, and everyone else followed suit.

"So," asked Minako. "Who's the lucky winner today?"

It took a moment for anyone to speak. Then, Akihiko's hand shot up with a key clutched in it. "My turn," he said, and Minako saw a familiar look on his face. He had the glint in his eyes of a man who was ready and raring for a good fight. She'd seen it countless times back at Gekkoukan, when they'd been fighting shadows together. That look still excited her a little, and she worked for a few moments to fight that feeling back down while they all waited for the other key to surface.

"Here," came a voice from the very back of the group. "I've got it." Minako was genuinely surprised to see Shinjiro pushing his way forward past the rest of the members of SEES, holding the other key out for her inspection.

"But…shouldn't it be one of Yosuke's friends?" she asked.

Shinjiro shrugged. "It's not," he told her, unnecessarily. "It's me. So let's do this."

Minako looked at Akihiko and Shinjiro, who were studiously not looking at each other. Then she looked over at Yosuke, who was frantically shaking his head. She shrugged at him, and he took a deep breath.

"Maybe," he began, "you should sit this one out, Minako-chan."

"No," said Minako, "no, I have to go too."

She knew that Yosuke was worried that she, who had, admittedly, been the cause of most of the trouble between Akihiko and Shinjiro, might only make it worse once they'd gone inside the nightmare world. Yosuke had a point, and she knew it, but there was no way that she was letting Shinjiro and Akihiko go into that dangerous place without her. After all, even if they defeated all of the shadows, they still might kill each other, and she wasn't going to allow that.

"He's right," added Akihiko. "We've got this in the bag, there's no reason for you to risk it."

"I agree," muttered Shinjiro.

Minako turned her fiercest, most uncompromisingly glare on them both. "I," she said, "am going, and that is all there is to it. Are we done here?"

Akihiko didn't argue. Minako got the sense that, despite his protestation, he was kind of impressed by her insistence. Without a word, he stepped forward and inserted the key into the lock of one of the doors. Shinjiro was right behind him, and together they pulled the door open to reveal a vast room with spotless white walls. Minako could see from where she stood that the room had low metal tables and uncomfortable looking metal chairs, along with what appeared to be old, stained charts and graphs lining the walls.

"Shit," growled Shinjiro. "I thought this would happen."

"Hey," asked Yosuke, "is this…a hospital?"

Nobody moved as a nurse came into view, her uniform so pale and pristine that it almost disappeared against the unnatural whiteness of the wallpaper. Slowly, apparently without noticing the open door, she stalked across the room, and only when she briefly turned her head to look at a wall chart did Minako see that she had the yellow, menacing eyes of a shadow.

"Get back," commanded Shinjiro, and they all stepped back and held their breaths until the shadow nurse had walked off, and they could no longer hear her heels clicking h the distance.

"This," announced Akihiko "is going to suck."

There were no disagreements as the four of them walked into the nightmare hospital together.

Minako had spent plenty of time in hospitals. There had been nothing left of her parents to bring to the hospital when they'd passed away all those years ago. She' visited Akihiko there when he'd been injured once during high school, and then she'd spent a lot more time there while visiting the unconscious Shinjiro after his run in with Strega. Hospitals were full of sickness, she knew, but they were also full of hope, and full of people who were waiting for their friends and loved ones to recover. Sometimes, the best, most magical reunion moments happened in hospitals. At other times, hospitals were where people discovered that they hadn't had time to say goodbye. Minako concluded that she didn't much like hospitals. She wasn't, however, particularly afraid of them.

Shinjiro and Akihiko, on the other hand, both looked as though they expected something horrible to come at them from every crevice and every corner. Akihiko was clearly so on edge that Minako could see the veins standing out in his forehead and throat.

"So?" Shinjiro asked Akihiko as they listened to each other's footfalls on the glistening floor. "What's your excuse?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Akihiko.

Shinjiro shrugged. "I almost died in a hospital. No surprise that I don't' like them. So what about you?"

Akihiko stopped, and stared at him. "The hell?" he snarled. "I watched you almost die in a hospital, isn't that enough?"

Minako and Yosuke, in a unanimous, unspoken decision, fell back slightly and let Akihiko and Shinjiro take the lead. The two men didn't even seem to notice.

"Doctors told me every single day that I was wasting my time, that there was no way you were going to come back," Akihiko continued. "You have any idea what that's like, to be told over and over again that there's no hope and that you shouldn't bother holding out? No, you were pretty much dead, so there's no way you remember any of that. Yeah, you had it pretty easy, you were out cold. Minako and I, we had to live through it."

Shinjiro didn't say anything. Minako felt that was a wise decision, under the circumstances. Awkwardly, Yosuke cleared his throat, but didn't seem to have anything to follow that with.

"Listen, Aki," Shinjiro started to say at last.

Akihiko didn't stop. "You were going to leave me behind," he said. "That's what hospitals are, they're places where you wait to get left behind by the people you- agh!"

Suddenly, Akihiko stumbled forward, flailing his arms out as he began to fall. Shinjiro was beside him in a moment, grabbing him and pushing him back on to his feet.

"The hell?" Akihiko stared down at the ground, and tried again to take the step that he'd stumbled on the first time. His left foot carried forward, but his right foot was rooted firmly the ground. "I'm stuck."

"Stuck on what?" asked Minako, hurrying forward to join them.

"Not sure." Akihiko shook his head. "But this isn't a great time for it. Look at that."

He pointed with one hand, and Minako, Yosuke, and Shinjiro all looked up to see a white-clad shadow doctor lurching towards them, brandishing two gleaming metal scalpels each hand.

Shinjiro planted himself firmly in front of the still struggling Akihiko, and Minako and Yosuke took up positions on either side. "Get ready," said Shinjiro, dragging his evoker out of his pocket. "This could get ugly."

"


	25. Chapter Twenty Four

**Author's Note: **So! You guys don't like hospitals either, huh? Certainly seems that way from the responses I've been getting!

Well, don't worry, we'll get Aki, Shinji, Yosuke and Minako out of the hospital as soon as possible. Actually, let's do that right now! Super-long chapter, here we come!

Oh, but first, a question. There's one line, and just one, in this story that I've been waiting for a chance to use for a long time. Can anyone guess which one it is?

**Chapter Twenty Four**

As Shinjiro stepped forward to engage the enemy, Minako instinctively moved to one side, closing the gap between her and Yosuke.

"Stay back," she warned him, "and pay attention."

"Why?" Yosuke look puzzled by her urgency.

Minako jerked her head in Shinjiro's direction. "Because," she said, "Shinji hasn't always had the best of luck controlling his persona. It's turned against him and the people around him before."

Yosuke's eyes went wide. "Are you serious?" he asked. "Wait, that actually happens?" Yosuke's persona came out and stood protectively in front of them both, while Yosuke himself went into a guarded stance. "But he couldn't hurt you, right? Isn't he your boyfriend?"

That's a good question, thought Minako. Actually, it was two good questions. She really didn't know if she could reasonably call herself Shinjiro's girlfriend, considering the slightly unorthodox way they'd begun their relationship on each of two separate occasions. She also had no reason to believe that he wouldn't hurt her. Of course, he'd never hurt her on purpose, but an unharnessed persona could probably do all kinds of damage, and no bonds of friendship or romance would be likely to stand in its way.

"Just…don't let your guard down," said Minako. Yosuke made a noise that sounded like a cross between a four letter word and a whimper.

Shinjiro, apparently oblivious to all this, was brandishing his axe at the approaching shadow. When the shadow was finally in striking range, Shinjiro spun the axe around in his hands, and brought the handle slamming down on the shadow's head, at the same time growling "heat wave." An inferno of magic sliced right through the shadow's body, and the shadow, caught by two attacks in as many seconds, staggered backwards.

"Get out of the way!" shouted Akihiko, and Minako pulled Yosuke to safety mere milliseconds before Akihiko's persona released a powerful lighting attack that struck the shadow through the head. Before it fell, the shadow managed to thrust out with two of the menacing scalpels, and wounded Shinjiro in the side. Even as Shinjiro sank to his knees, however, the shadow, too, fell forward on to its face, leaving it open to an all-out attack.

"Shinji!" yelled Minako, running forward to his side. He waved her away impatiently, grunting as he struggled back to his feet. "I'm fine," he muttered. "Go for the kill."

Minako, Yosuke, and a slightly staggered Shinjiro rushed forward towards the enemy. All the while, Minako was conscious of the sounds of Akihiko straining against his invisible bonds, desperate to join them.

The battle was over almost before it had begun. This shadow, which went down very quickly under their concerted attacks, was almost definitely a minion, and not the one that they were searching for. Once the enemy had dissolved, Minako made the cursory search for the key, although she knew she wouldn't find it. Then she and the other two men rejoined Akihiko.

"I gotta get out of here," he was muttering. "Where the hell is Fuuka? She'd be able to at least scan this to see what's holding on to me."

Yosuke and Minako sighed, almost in unison. Minako just hoped that Fuuka hadn't yet had her eyes scratched out by Rise. Judging by the look on Yosuke's face, he was having similar concerns.

All of a sudden, Shinjiro let out a low, malicious chuckle. "We could chop the leg off," he suggested, holding his axe up above Akihiko's ankle. "That'd take care of that. Hold still, Aki."

"W-what, are you crazy?" Yosuke rushed over and grabbed on to the axe handle. "Get it together, man! That wouldn't solve anything!"

Shinjiro grinned, and obediently lowered the axe. "Just a suggestion," he said.

Akihiko kicked out angrily with the one leg that he could still use. "Knock it off, Shinji. We need a plan. I'm totally useless like this."

Minako, who had a plan, spoke up. "I think that a couple of us should go on ahead," she said. "If Fuuka and Rise can't scan for us, then maybe we should do some scouting for ourselves. All shadows drop things. They drop keys, they drop items, and they drop money. Maybe there's one of them out there who will drop something that will free Aki."

"Yeah," agreed Yosuke sarcastically, "like, maybe a force field generator." Minako glared at him. "What?" he asked. "It's not any crazier than what you said. I mean, what if we have to kill every single shadow in the whole place to find the one thing that we need? It could take weeks!"

"Then get on it," said Shinjiro, nodding at Minako. "Don't get hurt, and don't go so far that you can't yell for help if you need it."

A slightly panicked look came into Akihiko's normally firm and focused eyes. "Hey," he said, "don't…don't just leave me here. What'll I do if you don't come back?"

Shinjiro slapped Akihiko hard on the back. Akihiko winced.

Tch, quit whining," said Shinjiro. "I'm not going anywhere."

As Minako and Yosuke walked off together, leaving Akihiko and Shinjiro behind, Yosuke turned to Minako and said, "I don't get it. I can't really tell; do those two guys like each other, or hate each other?"

Minako shrugged. "Good question," she said. "Come on, let's hurry."

Since it was now only the two of them, where there had once been four, Yosuke and Minako opted to try to spy on the shadows, rather than to face them head on. Crouching in corners and hiding behind tables and chairs, Minako strained her eyes, trying to see what each shadow was carrying, and whether or not it might possibly be a clue to releasing Akihiko.

"This isn't going to work," hissed Yosuke, as a lumbering janitorial shadow crossed in front of them, wheeling a cart that had, apparently nothing on it. "We don't even know what we're looking for!"

Even as he'd said that, however, Minako had spotted exactly what they were looking for. Without making a sound, she grabbed Yosuke by the shoulder, and pointed across the hallway at a place where something red and stained with spots of black was dripping slowly down the wall. If Minako was feeling optimistic, she would have assumed it to be red paint. Since she wasn't, she was almost positive it was blood.

It wasn't' the blood, however, that had caught her attention. Just below the patch of blood, being actively dripped on as they watched, was a bright, shiny, flashing red button, the sort of button that one might push to call for help or to summon a nurse.

"Don't push the red button," cautioned Yosuke. "You don't know what that does. Everybody knows you shouldn't push a button, especially a red button if you don't know what is going to happen."

"If we push it," reasoned Minako, "then we'll know what it does."

"I can't compete with logic like that," sighed Yosuke. "That was such a guy thing to say, are you sure you're a girl?"  
"Don't make me answer that." Minako began carefully tiptoeing across the floor, looking in both directions for oncoming shadows as she went. "There are so many dirty jokes that I could make out of what you just said."

"After a comment like that," said Yosuke, following her closely, "I know that you can't be a girl."

Minako poised her finger above the button. "No, trust me, I am. I've just been hanging out with Junpei too much. Ready? Here goes."

She pushed the button. For a moment, it looked as though nothing had happened. Then, from far away, Minako heard what sounded like someone letting out a loud, aggravated oath.

"That sounded like Akihiko!" Minako tried not to sound too relieved. "Let's get back and see what's going on."

Before either of them could move, however, a shadow nurse came mincing towards them on alarmingly high heels. Minako barely had time to reflect that this was so obviously a man's dream, as no real, working woman would ever be able to wear that kind of an impractical shoe.

Yosuke fired off a beam of wind, sweeping the nurse off of her feet and on to the ground.

"Come on," he shouted at Minako, tearing off in the direction from which they'd come. "Run for it!"

Minako ran after him.

They arrived back at the place where they'd left Shinjiro and Akihiko, to find Akihiko now walking on his own, apparently completely freed from whatever it was that had been pinning his foot to the ground. He was pale, and looked more stressed than he had when they'd started, but was otherwise unharmed.

Much to Minako and Yosuke's relief, when they turned around, they found that the shadow nurse was no longer behind them. "Phew," panted Yosuke. "We must have lost her. Okay, now that we're back at full strength, let's-!"

Minako heard Shinjiro's sharp intake of breath, and watched Akihiko's eyes slowly growing wider. She followed their gaze and saw one of the janitorial shadows wheeling a large, metal table around the corner. This table, however, was different from the others. This table wasn't empty.

"No." Akihiko was shaking his head at the shadow, backing away one step at a time, bringing his evoker closer to his ear with every step. Shinjiro's evoker was already out, and he had the grimmest look on his face that Minako had ever seen.

"What is that thing?" she asked, pointing at the wheeling table.

"The only other thing that Aki and I agree on," said Shinjiro, in a low, hoarse sort of voice.

"It's the one thing we'll both admit to being afraid of," added Akihiko.

Part of Minako kept pretending not to know what the thing was, but that treacherous inner voice was telling her that she'd known this was coming since they'd' entered the hospital. She'd been dreading have to deal with it this whole time, and now there didn't seem to be any way out.

The thing on the table started to move. Slowly, painfully, it uncurled, stretching out a pair of arms and a pair of legs that were protruding from a hospital gown. As it sat upright and brushed its hair back out of its face, Minako saw that it was a corpse. It wasn't just any corpse, either.

"What the-!" gasped Yosuke.

The thing on the table was Minako's corpse. It stared at her with her face, the same face that she'd seen on the shadow version of herself, that first day that she'd been thrown inside the TV. Again, this Minako had terrifying yellow eyes, but there was something dull, bleary and dead about these eyes. They weren't menacing. Instead, they were just cold, lifeless, and empty.

While Minako watched, transfixed, the janitor shadow crumpled slowly to the floor, and dissolved, apparently of his own accord, into red and black shadow essence. The shadow of dead Minako looked right past the real Minako and Yosuke into the stricken faces of Akihiko and Shinjiro.

Yosuke's voice broke the spell that had fallen over them all. "Incoming zombie Minako!" he yelled.

Minako reacted first. Without even thinking, she rushed forward and took a swipe at the shadow with her naginata. The shadow didn't even flinch, and the strike had clearly been ineffective. Shinjiro came at it with his axe, but that bounced off as well.

"Physical attacks aren't working," announced Minako.

The shadow clutched at its skull, and let out a screech of what sounded like pain. The screech echoed through the room, and sent a stab of shock through Minako's mind. It hurt, and she bent over, breathing hard, waiting for the sensation to die away. All around her, the other three were suffering similarly.

"Quick," mumbled Yosuke, "what don't you like?"

Minako blinked at him. "What did you say?"

"What don't you like?" repeated Yosuke impatiently. "I mean, what kind of spells are you afraid of?"

That question, thought Minako, actually made sense. "Uh," she stammered, thinking hard, conscious even as she did so that the shadow of her corpse was launching a burst of ice at Akihiko and Shinjiro. "I don't know, I…I've used all different kinds of spells, there's none that I really…"

Ice, she thought. It's using ice. Dead people are cold. Ice is cold. What doesn't ice like? Ice doesn't like fire.

"Fire," she said out loud. "I hate fire."

"But nobody here uses fire!" Yosuke was beginning to panic. "I'm wind, you're lightning, Akihiko is lightning too, and Shinjiro is...I don't know, unpredictable? Nobody is fire! Where are we gonna get fire?"

Minako thought as hard as she could about that. There must be something, she knew, something that she had picked up or purchased that would give her enough of a fire attack to knock her zombie self off of its feet.

"Shinji," she began, "you've got an agilao gem in your coat pocket. I know it's there, I saw when I was staying over in your room at the Amagi inn."

"When you were what?" demanded Akihiko.

This, thought Minako angrily, is so not the time.

"Use the gem," she insisted.

Shinjiro, his eyes still focused and fixed on the shadow corpse, just shook his head. "I…I said I'd never hurt you," he muttered helplessly.

"That's not me Shinji, that's the enemy!" Minako wasn't even trying to control the volume of her voice anymore. "Snap out of it! I'm right here! I'm not dead, but I'm going to die and so are you if you don't throw that thing! Now!"

Shinjiro opened his mouth, then closed it again, shook his head firmly, took a deep breath, and lobbed the agilao gem straight into the shadow corpse's face.

The corpse didn't fall over, or even stagger. Instead, it exploded. Pieces of it spattered the walls of the previously pristine hospital, decorating them with gruesome patterns of red and black.

This time, the brass double key appeared on top of the metal rolling table, and Yosuke walked over to collect it. It was still dripping with shadow essence when he picked it up. "Gross, your blood's all over it," he said.

"Again," sighed Minako, "not my blood. Shadow blood."

Akihiko, on the other hand, really was bleeding from a gash on the thigh. Minako didn't remember watching him go down, but, then again, she had been preoccupied for a lot of the fight. Just as she was heading in his direction to examine the wound, Shinjiro ripped off a section of his own sleeve, which he tied firmly around Akihiko's leg to stop the blood.

"A buddy bandage, huh?" Yosuke was smiling, although not very happily. "I gave someone something just like that once. Maybe I do get it, after all. You beat up on the people you care about, sometimes almost as much as you beat up on yourself. That deep stuff, friendship, love, all of that…it can hurt, too."

That had been an unexpectedly pithy comment coming from Yosuke, and Minako smiled at him. He had hidden depths that she was only beginning to understand, and some of them weren't so bad.

"Hey…guys?" From out of nowhere, Fuuka's voice sounded in Minako's mind. She, Shinjiro, Akihiko, and Yosuke all stood up straighter, looking around to make sure that she wasn't in the room with them.

"Hey, you did it!" Minako was delighted. "Fuuka, great job! How did you get it working again?"

"Well," began Fuuka, "honestly, it's not that I-oh, oh, ouch! Hey! Stop it, oww!" Minako heard a strangled sort of yelp, and then, again, Fuuka's voice was gone.

Minako looked at Yosuke. Yosuke looked very worried. "Rise," he said.

Without needing to say anything else, Minako led the rest of the party back towards the doorway as fast she could. It had sounded as though they'd probably get back to the Velvet Room just in time to break up the catfight of the century.


	26. Chapter Twenty Five

**Author's Note: **As I write this, I am about to start a three hour rehearsal for Shakespeare's "Hamlet." Despite the brooding, depressing atmosphere that play leaves hanging in the air, I will do my best not to make this chapter too much of a downer.

Anyway, here's a pretty innocent little Christmas chapter. After this one comes the less innocent, more significant and plot-heavy Christmas chapter, and then comes the contest between Rise and Fuuka. Uh, and after that things start getting reaaaally dark. Anyway. Stay tuned!

WARNING: I am exhausted. I didn't realize it until I started typing, but honestly just getting through 2000 words was hard going! I did proofread, but I probably missed things. This document may be full of typos! I promise to correct any of them tomorrow at the latest. Thanks for your patience!

**Chapter Twenty Five**

Minako was the first to reach the doorway. As soon as she stepped into the Velvet Room, she saw Fuuka cringing in pain, with Rise's perfectly manicured little nails digging painfully into her shoulder. "It's your fault," Rise was whining. "You're the reason that none of this is working! If only you'd just stop trying to interfere! Without me, we'll never be able to save senpai, and I won't let you get in my way!"

"You're being unreasonable," Fuuka said, as calmly as she could under the circumstances. "Stop being so stubborn! If you really want to save him, then back down and let me do what I can!"

Rise's fingers dug deeper into Fuuka's skin, and her other hand reached around and made a grab for the back of Fuuka's head. That, Minako knew, was a mistake. Fuuka may have seemed meek and mild, but when she put her mind to it, she was perfectly capable of-

A sickening smack echoed around the room as Fuuka's palm cracked against the side of Rise's jaw. Clutching at her face, Rise staggered backward and dropped Fuuka, who sank on to the ground, rubbing her now smarting hand against the side of her leg.

"How dare you?" Rise screamed. "Yosuke-senpai, did you see what she did to me? Aren't you going to do something about it?"

"Enough," shouted Akihiko, who had just caught up with Minako and was now standing imposingly in the doorway. Everyone turned to stare at him. "Aren't you ashamed?" Akihiko continued, the disgust dripping out of his voice. "Fighting on the floor like a couple of preschool kids? We have a job to do here. Get the hell up."

"You think Narukami would want to see you like this?" Shinjiro asked Rise. "Cause I doubt it."

"Huh?" said Chie, looking back and forth between Akihiko and Shinjiro in surprise. She and Junpei was standing together just a little ways across the room, watching the fight with slightly too much interest on their faces."Wait, when did you two get start getting along?"

Yosuke shook his head, holding out a hand to forestall any further commentary. "Forget it, that's not important right now. We have a serious problem, guys. We can't keep doing this without any backup. We're going to walk into something we can't handle, and get ourselves killed. Rise, Fuuka-san, this can't keep happening; we need one of you to back down. I don't care which one."

Rise and Fuuka both looked chagrined, and slightly sheepish. Neither of them, however, looked ready to cede their place to the other. They regarded each other warily.

"Oh! Hey! Check it out, I've got the answer!" Suddenly, Junpei sounded excited. "We'll have a contest. The winner gets to be our backup for the next adventure."

"A contest?" Minako wasn't so sure she liked the sound of that. "What kind of a contest?"

"Listen to this," said Junpei. "Rise and Fuuka will take turns leading us through one of those nightmare worlds. It doesn't matter who goes in, that's not important, but what is important is how long it takes. Whichever girl gets their party through the nightmare world faster is the winner. How great is that, right? I'm a genius."

"I'll crush you easily," muttered Rise. "Bring it on."

Fuuka said nothing. Instead, she simply nodded at Rise, and then got carefully to her feet, turning her back on the girl to go and join Yukari and Mitsuru.

"Okay, then." Yosuke sounded relieved. "So, we agree. We'll have our contest tomorrow, right here, in the Velvet Room. Which nightmare should we use? Uh…Kanji, yours wasn't too bad, maybe that would be the best idea."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Junpei shook his head emphatically. "No, not tomorrow. I mean, obviously I think we should do this, but we can't tomorrow."

"Huh? Why not? We gotta get this over quickly so that we can get back to work," insisted Yosuke.

Junpei stood firm. "Dude," he said, "did you forget? Tomorrow's Christmas. You can't…you can't fight on Christmas, that's just wrong. Nah, we're taking tomorrow off. Don't argue with me."

Christmas? Minako hadn't even thought about it. It was, of course, the winter break, which was the reason that so many local high school students like Yosuke were able to take so many days off for themselves. Christmas did take place during the winter break. All of this seemed so obvious, but Minako hadn't even thought about it. The last Christmas she remembered, or , at least, the last Christmas for which she'd been alive had happened at Gekkoukan. Now, here she was, with so many of the same people, on Christmas Eve three years later. Despite the trouble she was in, she smiled. Was it okay, she wondered, to be looking forward to this?

"No way, man." Yosuke's face was grim. "I know it's Christmas, that's exactly why we need to go all out tomorrow. I want to have Yu back as soon as possible. If he can't be back tomorrow for Christmas dinner, then maybe for New Year's eve. We can't slack off now just so that we can have a good time. What about the good time he's missing out on?"

Even before he had finished his tirade, Yosuke's eyes met Minako's. She saw the uncertain look that he gave her, heard the waver in his voice, and sighed. Yes, she thought, without needing to say it out loud. Yes, I'd like to have a Christmas with my friends, too.

"Hey," began Junpei hotly. Minako opened her mouth to cut him off, but never had her chance.

"Wait, you know what? Um…this is gonna sound really stupid after what I just said, but, uh, actually I promised Nanako-chan that we'd spend the day with her tomorrow. And you can't let a kid down on Christmas, that's just…I'd have to be some kind of monster." He laughed, and Minako turned away from him. She wanted to say thank you, but couldn't bring herself to look him in the eye. As far as she rembered, Yosuke had promised to visit Nanako on Friday, not tomorrow, which would be a Thursday.

The atmosphere in the room took on an awkward, pregnant quality, full of the things that so many of them were thinking but not saying. Finally, Junpei broke the silence in his forcedly cheerful way. "Great," he said. "So, we'll have our contest on Friday, right here. Tomorrow, we relax."

As everyone filed out of the Velvet Room, Minako could hear Junpei saying excitedly to whoever would listen, "Oh man, I have been waiting all year for a chance to hang up some mistletoe! This is gonna be a Christmas that we'll never forget, just you wait."

"Um," muttered Yosuke, walking up behind Minako, looking uncomfortable. "I…wasn't trying to say that you don't have the right to…I mean, it's not that you and everybody aren't…um…"

"It's okay." Minako gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Honestly, it is. I understand."

**That evening, at Junpei's house…**

"Damn." Junpei sighed. "I never even put up a tree this year. Guess I'm all talk, huh? I wanted the best Christmas ever, but I've been so caught up in fighting and stuff that I forget to even buy a Christmas tree…"

"We can probably still get one, if you want," remarked Yukari, who was standing on a stool while trying to hang some tinsel decorations from the ceiling. "They have lots of last minute sales in the shopping district, and I'm sure Junes won't be sold out."

"Oh! I'll make a cake!" suggested Fuuka hopefully. Everyone else in the room turned to look at her. Alarm bells began ringing in Minako's head.

"Um," Minako said, thinking quickly, "that's a great idea, Fuuka! Why don't you ask Shinji to help you? I'm sure he gets bored, sitting around by himself with nothing to do. You'd probably be doing him a favor."

Fuuka gave Minako a look that said she knew exactly what Minako was trying to do. "Oh," she murmured. "Yes, that would be a good idea. Thank you, Mina-chan."

Sorry, thought Minako. She really did care about Fuuka, and that was one of the reasons that she didn't want to see Fuuka disappointed when the entire group found out that her cake was inedible.

"Whatever you do," remarked Akihiko, "don't let those girls from Yasogami offer to help. That guy Kanji told me that last year, they made some food on a school camping trip that was almost lethal." There was something almost like respect in Akihiko's voice when he said it, which was, Minako had to admit, was mildly disturbing.

"Hey, is that mistletoe?" asked Fuuka, pointing to the decoration that Yukari was now in the process of hanging up.

Junpei grinned. "Yup, it sure is! This year, we're gonna do Christmas the right way. You know, make some real memories."

The look on his face was so gleefully perverted that Minako laughed out loud. She only stopped laughing abruptly when she realized that all eyes in the room were now focused on her. Looking up, she discovered that the mistletoe in question was now hanging just in between her and Akihiko. Akihiko had turned an unusual shade of pink.

"Well, uh," he muttered, "I guess I-!"

Suddenly, Shinjiro strode over, took a firm hold on Minako's shoulder, and began steering her away from the mistletoe and over towards the doorway. "Come on," he said, shooting a glare in Akihiko's direction. "I want to talk to you about something."

Muffled giggling followed the pair of them as Minako let Shinjiro drag her out of the house. The last thing Minako heard before the door closed behind them was Junpei saying, "Actually, I think we might need more of that mistletoe…"

When they were finally clear of the onlookers, Minako turned sharply on Shinjiro, and frowned at him. "What was that all about?" she demanded.

Shinjiro shrugged. "I don't want you kissing other guys," he said. "What, you'd rather I didn't care?"

"I wasn't going to kiss him," Minako insisted guiltily, knowing full well that she had been thinking about it. "It wouldn't kill you to try trusting me a little more."

Honestly, Minako had to admit to herself, she had been kissing Akihiko not too long ago. Only a few days ago she'd met up with him for coffee at the food court, and Shinjiro, of course, would be conscious of that. It might have been nice, she thought, to have Akihiko's muscular arms around her again, just the way they had been on that afternoon at Junes. That was an unwelcome thought, and she tried to push it as far out of her mind as she could, but clearly Shinjiro saw some trace of it on her face, because he scowled.

"Crap," he muttered, "I don't even want you looking at other guys. Especially Aki." Pulling her close to him, Shinjiro kissed Minako like he meant it. A warm feeling started spreading from Minako's lips all the way through her fingers and toes, and she leaned her head happily against Shinjiro's chest.

"So," Minako said teasingly, "I thought you and Akihiko had made up. I figured you were good friends again. Guess I was wrong."

Shinjiro snorted. "Friends or not," he told her, "There are some things that I'm not gonna share."

His fingers wandered across her neck, and then he stopped, releasing her for a moment to peer over at the red wound he'd given her that morning. "How's your neck?" he asked. "Does it hurt?"

"No. Actually, I'd forgotten all about it." Minako smiled. "That was a pretty stupid thing for me to do, creeping up on you like that. I guess I'm a hopeless romantic at heart!"

For some reason, that didn't seem to improve Shinjiro's mood. "Other guys," he muttered, "probably wouldn't have come at you like that. Somebody else might have enjoyed it. I might have enjoyed it, if I wasn't so used to fighting."

"Some other guys would have done that," insisted Minako. "Akihiko would have done that. Trust me, it's not just you. This one time, at Gekkoukan, he…" Seeing the expression on Shinjiro's face, Minako stopped and bit her lip. "Okay, I admit, that probably wasn't the right thing for me to say there."

Shinjiro didn't say anything. He was looking over his shoulder through the window of Junpei's house. From inside, Minako could hear the sound of Junpei singing American Christmas carols at the top of his voice. It sounded like he was having a good time.

"Um…" she fumbled around in her mind for the right thing to say to Shinjiro, to make him feel better about the neck-grabbing incident. Eventually, she settled on something, and leaned over to whisper in his nearest ear, "I love you senpai."

Shinjiro's reaction wasn't what Minako was expecting. He jerked in surprise, turning to face her with his mouth slightly open. "Wait, what?" he asked.

"Come on, don't you remember the first time I said that? In the dorms at Gekkoukan?" Minako was a little disappointed. "I thought me saying it like that might make you smile. Doesn't that take you back? I guess for you it was a really long time ago, but for me it was pretty much yesterday."

Shinjiro watched her for a moment, and then his eyes softened. There was something unreadable in his face, something that almost looked like pain. It couldn't be, though, Minako told herself. Why on earth would it hurt him to hear her say those words? He had pretty much confessed to her already, hadn't he? Of course, he'd never actually said the words themselves, but all that talk about caring, and her being the only one for him…she knew that he wasn't the sort of guy to play with women.

Belatedly, Minako remembered the story Shinjiro had told her over dinner, about sleeping with a friend of Akihiko's and then never calling the girl again.

He wasn't really that type of guy, she assured herself. She knew him better than that…didn't she?

"We should go back," Shinjiro announced. "It's freezing out here. You'll get sick. We both will."

With his arm around her shoulders, Shinjiro guided Minako back inside. Now, she was confused and frustrated.


	27. Chapter Twenty Six

**Author's Note: **So, I was going to go to sleep as soon as I got home. I really was. It was going to happen. Then, I got this great insightful comment from **AbyssOfShadows** that made me what to write some more, and to think harder about where to go with the next chapter. In the end, I stayed up late last night writing, and now I'm seriously wiped out. One of these days I'll get some sleep again, right?

In other news, **100 reviews!** What? That is so exciting! I mean…okay, honestly, I think the reason that I'm so excited by that is it means that you guys are really enjoying and invested enough in this story to be regularly commenting and critiquing, which means a ton to me. Thanks so much for keeping me company during this fanfiction experiment of mine! What fun it is has been so far.

Oh, by the way; this is a super long chapter, and there's a reason for that. There will be **NO UPDATES** this weekend, at all. No updates until Sunday night, maybe even Monday morning. My boyfriend is driving several hours out of his way to come and spend the weekend with me, so I have promised myself to put the computer away until he goes back home. Sorry for the delay. Please accept this extra-long chapter as my apology, and I promise to be back updating next week! The next few chapters after this one are going to be super plot-heavy, and we are getting closer and closer to our ending. Stay tuned!

**Chapter Twenty Five**

Minako had wanted snow on Christmas morning, but she had to settle for a clear, sunny, frigidly cold day instead. The air may not have been full of snow, but it felt like a blanket of white tingly mist that gradually began to turn her fingers and toes into numb cinderblocks.

It was hard, therefore, to wake up. Surprisingly, Minako had found a comfortable position to sleep in, with her head resting on one of the pillows that she'd borrowed from Junpei's couch. Her pajamas were too thin, and she quickly grabbed two of her new shirts and layered them one on top of the other to keep out the cold.

There was still no Christmas tree. Junpei, Minako knew, hoped to go out as soon as Junes opened to try and pick one up at the last minute. Most of the members of SEES were huddled or sprawled around on the floor, except for Junpei, who was already awake and moving around quietly in the kitchen.

"Hey, Junpei!" Minako waved at him.

"Huh?" Junpei looked up from whatever it was he was working on at the counter. "Oh, you're up! Merry Christmas, Mina-tan!"

"Merry Christmas," replied Minako, with a smile. "Come on, let's go get that tree before the others wake up."

Junpei nodded. "Oh, yeah, it's really a two person job, right? And it'll be great to see the surprise on their faces when we get back! Okay, I'm coming. Just, um, put some pants on first."

After Minako was dressed, and Junpei had finished up in the kitchen, they tiptoed outside to his car. Minako climbed into the passenger seat, and they drove off towards Junes, determined to find the best Christmas tree that a meager salary and a few dropped shadow coins could buy.

Unfortunately, that mission took a lot longer to complete than either of them had expected, and it was already almost one o'clock in the afternoon when Junpei and Minako arrived back at the house, with the brand new tree strapped to the roof of the car.

Akihiko and Shinjiro came out to help them wrestle the tree into the house, and before long it was standing up in the center of the room, with Junpei beaming proudly at it as though he had grown and felled the thing himself.

"So," he muttered as he gazed at the tree. "What's missing, here? We've got a tree, we've got the brisk winter weather, our friends are over to hang out…oh, and we've even got that mistletoe!"

"Enough about the mistletoe," insisted Yukari. "No one's going anywhere near that stuff. This isn't a high school mixer, okay? Try to show a little class."

"That might be a bit much to ask of Iori," remarked Mitsuru dryly.

"Hey!" Junpei pointed an accusatory finger at Mitsuru. "Don't throw stones, okay? I saw you and Akihiko-san making out under it just before I went up to bed last night. I bet you thought that nobody was awake to see you, huh? Well, guess again!"

Akihiko went white. "Uh," he mumbled. "Wait, I didn't-!"

Mitsuru rolled her eyes. "And what if I was?" she asked. "We're both adults."

"So," insisted Junpei, "then you agree with me that mistletoe isn't just kid stuff, right? It's a real old-school holiday tradition."

Yukari looked exasperated. "Give it up, Stupei," she said. "I see where this is going, but there's no way that you're going to get any of us to make out with you, mistletoe, or no mistletoe. It's not happening. Better luck next year."

"Oh yeah? Well, maybe it wasn't you ladies that I was interested in." Junpei was undaunted. "Maybe I had someone else in mind. Did you ever think of that?"

For some reason, everyone in the room turned to look at Minako. She blinked in surprise.

"Ew, no!" Minako shook her head violently. "No, that's…I don't even want to think about that."

Junpei nodded hurriedly. "Yeah, that'd be disgusting and very weird."

"Hey!" Minako glared at him. "I'm not disgusting or weird."

"What? You were the one who said you didn't want to think about it! Make up your mind, woman!" Junpei shrugged. "Anyway…nope. I had someone else in mind. Someone super cute." Turning around, he headed back towards the kitchen, saying over his shoulder as he went, "so now, if you'll all excuse me, I've gotta make a phone call."

While Junpei chatted with someone over the phone, Yukari gave Minako a worried look. "Do you think he's talking about one of Yosuke's friends?" she asked. "Is he going to invite them over? I don't know if we really want them to be here. Didn't they want us to go to the TV world today?"

Inwardly, Minako sort of agreed with Yukari. Having Yosuke around would definitely make Christmas a little more stressful and a little less joyful. Still, it would be hard for Yosuke, going through his first big holiday without his best friend, and part of her wondered if they might be able to cheer him up a little bit. It would be nice to be able to help take his mind off things. If Junpei was planning to put the moves on one of Yosuke's friends, then no doubt they would all soon have something else to worry about. Minako just hoped that it didn't result in any casualties, particularly any injuries to Junpei. Some of those girls with Yosuke had really been able to pack a punch, especially Chie. Luckily, Minako thought, Yukiko Amagi was definitely more Junpei's type, and she at least seemed to be the kind of girl who had the manners to let him down easy.

"It's fine with me," Minako said. "It'd' be a good chance for us to get to know them all a little better. All we've ever really done together is fight, and they seem like nice people."

"Nice people?" Yukari stared at her. "Minako, they're trying to…um…nevermind." Flustered, Yukari hurried over to talk to Fuuka. Minako watched her go. She could only assume that Yukari had meant to say "Minako, they're trying to kill you," or something like that. For some reason, in the twisted sort of reality that Minako had come to accept as her own, people trying to kill her didn't seem like any reason not to at least be friendly.

"Okay," said Junpei , hanging up the phone with a triumphant click. "It's all set. Everybody's on their way over. Oh, and Yosuke said he was gonna bring someone named Nanako. Any idea who that is? Do you think she's cute?"

"Yeah." Minako nodded. "She's definitely cute. She's also eight years old. Nanako is Yu Narukami's little cousin. I met her a couple of days ago. Her dad's a policeman; I guess he works a lot. Maybe she's lonely today."

"Ugh, what? There's gonna be a little kid at our party?" Junpei looked disgusted. "That'll spoil everything…" Turning to the sofa, where Akihiko and Shinjiro were watching TV, he added, "Anyway, you guys watch your language today, got it?"

"Shit," grumbled Shinjiro.

Akihiko shrugged. "Exactly."

Minako decided to make herself useful. Junpei needed some help cleaning up the floors and counters in the kitchen, and after that, Fuuka took over the kitchen to start working on her promised cake. Minako ended up helping with that too, and when Shinjiro saw the trouble that they were so obviously having with the recipe, he stepped in as well. The cake was sitting on a cooling rack, and Shinjiro was meticulously instructing them on the proper way to layer icing, when the doorbell rang, and Junpei went eagerly to answer it.

When Junpei threw open the door, Yosuke, Chie, Kanji, and all of their friends were standing on the doorstep. Nanako was there too, her cheeks pink from the cold, with a little knit hat on her head that had a kitten embroidered on the front.

"Merry Christmas!" announced Junpei, gesturing everyone inside. "You're just in time for cake! It smells pretty good, doesn't it? What a relief… then again, I guess something can smell good and still taste awful, right?"

Chie, Yukiko, and Rise, and Naoto exchanged a significant look. "Yes," mumbled Naoto."I'm afraid that is the case. Thank you for your hospitality." They all tramped inside.

"Merry Christmas, Nanako-chan," said Minako, watching the way Minako was staring at Junpei's Christmas tree. "What's up?"

"Oh…merry Christmas!" Nanako shook her head quickly. "It's nothing! It's very nice to be here." Biting her lip, she thought for a moment, and then added, "But…why is the tree so empty? Where are all the ornaments? Christmas trees are supposed to sparkle."

Good point, thought Minako. "I don't think Junpei usually keeps a Christmas tree, so he may not have any ornaments around the house. I'll try to find something that we can use." She contemplated going over to Junes to look for some colored popcorn to turn into a decoration. Maybe Yukari had more of that tinsel to wrap around the tree. A blank, boring Christmas tree didn't seem right for a real party, especially now that Nanako was here.

"Here, use this." Yosuke, who had been standing close enough to hear their conversation, held out a colorful keychain that had a charm on the end which looked like Teddie dressed up in his mascot fur. "They handed them out to all of the employees at Junes, sort of like consolation Christmas presents. It shouldn't be too heavy to hang."

"Yay, thank you!" Nanako carefully placed the keychain on a low bough of the tree. "That looks great!"

"Um…how about this?" Ken, who had drifted towards the door when Kanji came in, handed Minako what looked like a shiny toy sheriff's badge. "I don't know what this was doing in my pocket," he mumbled.

Naoto smiled at him from where she was standing over by the kitchen. "There's no need to be embarrassed. I have something like that as well. Mind you, I don't usually carry it about in my pocket, but it is still sitting on my grandfather's mantelpiece to this day. When I was your age, I used to wear it to school with me."

"Wh-what? Really? But…you're so cool." Ken gave Naoto a wide eyed look. She just laughed. Nanako took the star badge and hung it carefully up on the tree.

Over the course of the next two hours, everyone found something that they could use to decorate the Christmas tree. Fuuka donated some blue and pink candy that she had been planning to use to decorate the cake. Yukari and Mitsuru both tied hair ribbons and bracelets on to some of the branches. Chie looped on a few of her workout wristbands, and Yukiko gave them an unused Amagi Inn handkerchief, tied carefully into a bow. At the top of the tree, they placed a Rise Kujikawa celebrity style doll, which Rise insisted had been sent to her for promotional reasons.

"I was thinking of giving it to Nanako as a present," she told them.

"But…why would I need a Rise doll?" asked Nanako, reasonably. "I have the real thing!"

Shinjiro, Akihiko, Junpei, and Kanji all managed to find a few things to contribute as well, and before long, the once lonely looking Christmas tree was now festooned with the strangest collection of makeshift ornaments that Minako had ever seen.

"Wow," whispered Nanako, delighted. "Now it's beautiful!"

And it was, thought Minako, with a little smile. It was certainly strange looking, but it was their tree. No one else in the world would have a Christmas tree that looked just like this, just like no one else in the world would have a group of friends who were just as unexpected as hers were. That seemed to be appropriate, and it filled her with a warm sort of home-like feeling that she didn't remember having ever experienced before.

"Thank you, Nanako-chan," Minako murmured.

"Hmm?" Nanako looked puzzled. "For what?"

Before Minako had a chance to try and explain what she meant, Shinjiro was at her elbow. "Sorry," he said to Nanako, "but can I borrow Minako for a minute?"

"Do you promise to bring her back?" asked Nanako, seriously.

Shinjiro, equally seriously, nodded back at her. "I promise. You see that guy over there, with the knife? That's Aki. Go get him to cut you a slice of cake. Tell him I said to make it a big one."

Nanako frowned slightly. "Um, I'm not sure dad would like that…he and my teacher are always telling me how important it is to be healthy."

Shinjiro shrugged. "I won't tell him if you don't."

As Nanako ran off towards Akihiko, Minako grinned and linked her arm through Shinjiro's. "You're good with kids," she said. "It's sweet."

"Huh?" Shinjiro looked surprised. " I guess. Kids are just people, only smaller." He frowned. "It can be tough to be a kid sometimes. Nobody takes you seriously. Anyway, Merry Christmas." With that, he presented Minako with a chocolate cupcake, carefully frosted over with green and white icing. There was a little red heart candy pressed into one corner of the icing. "We had some batter leftover when we put the cake in the oven, so…since I didn't have time to get you a present, I made you this. Aki said that you like sweet stuff, and, uh, well, I hope it tastes okay." Shinjiro looked uncertain, as if he was ready to take back the gift the moment Minako showed any disapproval.

"I know it'll be fantastic," Minako assured him, smiling at the cutesy little cupcake in her hand. "Thank you for thinking of me." At the same time, she was uncomfortably conscious that it hadn't even occurred to her to get Shinjiro a Christmas gift. At least he'd made her something. She hadn't even tried. As a sort of apology for that, Minako leaned forward and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

She felt his cheek growing warmer under the pressure of her lips. "Yeah," he mumbled. "No problem. I just wish I'd known what to get you for real. I'm not good at presents."

"Presents aren't hard," said Minako. "Actually, there is something easy that you could give me. That is, if you want to." She felt manipulative and conniving even as she said it, and of course, Minako knew that Shinjiro didn't deserve that treatment. At the same time, however, she'd tossed and turned the entire night wondering about why he'd refused her the evening before. Now, she had a chance to sort things out.

She was almost disappointed when Shinjiro walked right into the trap. "Yeah," he agreed readily. "Whatever you want."

Whatever I want, thought Minako. He doesn't even know what I'm going to ask. "Well," she began hesitantly, "um…Shinji, do you remember what I said to you yesterday? When you dragged me outside, after Akihiko and I were standing under the mistletoe? I told you that I loved you, and I was wondering if maybe…?"

Shinjiro's face fell. "Don't ask me that," he said, and his voice took on a harsher, gruff quality that Minako knew hadn't been there the moment before.

"But why?" She tried not to it come out sounding like a whine. "I don't understand. After everything you've said to me since I came back, and after the way that you…that you touched me, I thought that you must feel the same way. I've told you how I feel. I've told you more than once. It hasn't changed. Now all I want is for you to tell me your feelings. I don't understand why that's so difficult." She paused for a moment, took a deep breath, and then said quietly, "I want to know before the end. Before it's all over, I want to hear you say it. Please."

"That's it." Shinjiro's face was unreadable. "That's why I can't say it."

"That," insisted Minako, "does not make any sense at all."

Shinjiro took a look around the room, apparently to see if anyone was watching them. Everyone else seemed to be engaged in conversations or activities with friends both old and new, and no one was paying Minako and Shinjiro any attention. Shinjiro took Minako by both wrists, and drew her closer to him.

"If I say it," he told her, "then you'll be able to die happy, is that it? You can go, knowing how much I really cared? Is that what you want?"

"Yes," confessed Minako. "Is that so wrong?"

Releasing her, Shinjiro averted his eyes. "Yeah," he said. "It is. Sorry, but…it is."

"Shinji," Minako knew she was almost begging, but she was desperate for him to understand. "Shinji, I need you to be strong about this. For me. If you're strong, then I can be strong, too."

"You're asking too much," muttered Shinjiro. "Enjoy your cupcake." He walked off, and Minako stood there with the treat dripping icing on to her fingers. She held her breath and made a valiant effort not to cry.

After a few minutes had passed, Nanako came back, her mouth decorated with green frosting. "Oh good," she said, beaming up at Minako. "He left you right where I could find you again!" Then she stopped, and peered more closely into Minako's face. "Uh oh…why do you look so sad? Did that man say something mean?"

"N-no," Minako stammered, forcing a smile back on to her face. "No, Shinji's a very good man, it's not his fault." That was true, she thought. Shinjiro was only being honest with her. She couldn't keep asking him to pretend that everything was going to be fine, that they were happy together and that there was nothing to worry about. This wasn't the normal romance that either of them had imagined or hoped for. It was unfair of her to expect him to play along.

Even as she told herself all this, however, Minako still wished that he would try to understand. It wasn't as though she had ever wanted it to be this way. There simply was no other choice. He knew that, didn't he?

"Okay…" Nanako looked slightly puzzled. "Um, if you say so. Oh, you have a cupcake! I didn't know there were cupcakes. The cake was really yummy!"

Minako expelled a breath, and then sank down to sit on the floor, resting her back carefully up against the Christmas tree stand. Nanako curled up cross-legged next to her. "Um, Minako-san…can I ask you something?"

"Of course," said Minako absently.

"Well…" Nanako sounded worried. "Yosuke told me that we could bring some cake and decorations from the house, to wish Big Bro a Merry Christmas."

Minako blinked. "At…the cemetery?"

"Yeah." Nodding, Nanako licked a stray speck of frosting from off of her top lip. "Will you come with us? Please? The cemetery is scary at night, and Yosuke sometimes gets all quiet when we go there, and his face gets all angry, and…"

Minako placed a hand on Nanako's shoulder to calm her. Then she looked around the room again. Kanji, Ken, and Naoto seemed to be playing some kind of game with dice on the floor behind the sofa. Mitsuru and Yukari were chatting animatedly with Yukiko and Chie, and all four of them seemed to be watching Junpei, who was doing his best to coax Rise in the direction of the infamous mistletoe. Akihiko and Shinjiro were back to watching television, and there was an unusually large slice of cake on Akihiko's plate. He seemed to have spent some time scraping all of the frosting off of it.

Everyone looked so happy, as though they were really having a good time. Minako glanced up at the awkwardly adorned Christmas tree, nodded to herself, and then got back on to her feet.

"Yes," she told Nanako, reaching down to help the girl up. "Of course I'll come with you. Come on, let's go find Yosuke. We don't want it to get too late or it'll be too dark to go driving on these back roads."


	28. Chapter Twenty Seven

**Author's Note: **Thanks for being so understanding about my taking a weekend off. You are, as I have said before and will no doubt say again, the best readers anywhere!

We are moving into the home stretch! Very soon, things will begin happening very fast for our intrepid heroes. I will be updating regularly again starting today!

**Chapter Twenty Seven**

After they left the cemetery, Yosuke dropped Minako off at Junpei's house. It was much later than she'd planned to be home, and when she walked in she found the various members of SEES all tucked in to their separate sleeping corners. Usually, Minako knew, the person who managed to stay awake the longest ended up getting the prime sleeping spot on the sofa. Tonight, it looked like Shinjiro had been the lucky one. He was scrunched up on the sofa, with his mouth slightly open and one of his arms dangling over the side. There was just enough room, thought Minako involuntarily, for someone small to fit right underneath Shinjiro's other arm.

She was, of course, very aware of how dangerous Shinjiro's reflexes could be. The barely healed wound on the back of her neck should have been a very good reminder of what a bad idea it was to try and be cute with him. Still, Minako couldn't resist. There was something awkwardly adorable about how vulnerable he looked with his mouth open like that. Carefully, as quietly as she could, Minako climbed on to the couch and tucked herself up against Shinjiro's chest, resting her head hesitantly against his shoulder. Then she held her breath.

Shinjiro moved. His arms came down around Minako, pinning her against him before she had a chance to even blink, let alone dodge out of the way. For a moment, she waited, expecting the blow to fall, but it soon became clear that he was still fast asleep, and that whatever instinct was protecting him was satisfied just to have immobilized her.

Minako let out a sigh of relief. Squirming slightly to try and get into a less awkward position, she eventually gave up, closed her eyes, and drifted off to sleep.

**The next morning…**

Minako awoke to find Shinjiro propped up one arm, leaning over her and blinking in surprise.

"Good morning," she said, yawning, then trying and failing to stifle it.

"Uh…morning." Shinjiro ran a hand nervously through his mess of sleep-flattened hair. "What….? When did you, um…" He seemed to be having trouble forming the rest of the sentence.

Minako smiled sleepily. "I came in late last night, and I didn't want to sleep on the floor. My back still hurts from being on the floor the other night, so, I figured you wouldn't mind if I tried fitting on the couch." She shifted her position slightly so that it was easier for Shinjiro to sit up.

"Oh, yeah." If Minako hadn't known better, she'd have thought that Shinjiro looked almost disappointed. "So, that's…why you're on top of me."

She laughed. "Don't be like that, I'm only teasing. You know I just wanted to be with you."

Minako heard Shinjiro's sharp intake of breath. It was a moment before he muttered, "You can't say a thing like that when you're sitting on my lap. You're gonna give me ideas. I can't help it, I'm a guy."

Ducking her head out from under his arm, Minako craned her neck to give him a quick kiss, but couldn't quite reach his mouth, and had to settle for somewhere in the area of his collarbone. "But you're my guy, right?" she asked.

"Yeah." Shinjiro stretched his arms over his head, and Minako heard a pop as his muscles began waking up. "Listen, about what I said last night…" he began, and then stopped, reddening. "Jeez, it's… hard to concentrate like this."

"Like this?"" Minako felt the muscles of Shinjiro's chest tighten against her back. "Oh, you mean…" She made as if to stand up, but Shinjiro pulled her back.

"D-don't just leave like that," he mumbled. "That's not fair. Being like this…it brings back memories. You know, from the dorm."

Minako sighed an exasperated sigh. "But I thought you said that you didn't like me on your lap."

Shinjiro laughed. "Heh…you still don't get it. I guess you've got a lot to learn about men." After a moment, he added, under his breath, "and I don't want you learning that from any other guys."

Minako decided that it might be a good idea to change the subject, before either of them forgot about their agreement to take things slowly. "Um, Shinji, you were saying something about last night?"

Shinjiro's face went wooden again. "I wanted to tell you," he muttered. "I'm sorry. I don't want to make this harder for you. That shadow thing, the one that looked like you, it said that you want a knight in shining armor." He laughed a mirthless, self-deprecating laugh. "I'm not much of a knight. Never was."

"We hurt each other last night, both of us," Minako told him. "It's okay. I think that maybe I understand."

"Minako," began Shinjiro. "I-!"

Minako shook her head, putting up a hand to forestall him. "Don't say it now," she insisted. "I know how you feel. I was wrong to try to pretend that we can act just like everyone else. Let's not have this conversation. I want to try, really try to spend every moment enjoying the chances that we still have to be together. That's what matters now. Okay?"

She smiled, a forced, cheery smile, willing Shinjiro to play along.

"Yeah," he said, nodding, and though he tried to smile back at her, she could see the pain shining through around his eyes.

"Come on," Minako insisted. "I'm having cake for breakfast. Are you in?"

"What?" Shinjiro shook his head. "Haven't you had enough cake after last night?"

Minako didn't' have the heart to tell him that she'd let Nanako eat the cupcake while they'd been in the cemetery.

In the end, Shinjiro insisted on making Minako a real, healthy breakfast. Although she complained about the fact that it wasn't made of cake like she'd planned, she was honestly delighted that even in the midst of all the craziness and the sadness, he was taking the time to cook her something healthy to eat. That was Shinjiro for you, Minako thought. A balanced diet was important to him. That was probably the reason that Akihiko, despite all of his various injuries and crazy workout regimen, had survived all those years that he and Shinjiro had looked out for each other.

The others soon began to wake up, and as they got dressed and went about their morning routines, Yukari turned to Junpei with a malicious grin on her face. "So," she asked teasingly, "how'd it go last night with Rise-chan?"

"Leave me alone," muttered Junpei miserably.

Akihiko snorted. "She's an idol. She knows every trick in the book. Junpei didn't stand a chance."

"Oohhh…" Yukari looked almost sympathetic. "Well, you can't be lucky every time, right?"

Junpei didn't even bother to look at her. "Rejection sucks," he grumbled.

Cleaning up the house took quite some time, and Minako pitched in to help Junpei and her friends get rid of all the streamers, vacuum away the cake crumbs, and deal with drink and food stains that had appeared on the carpet and the sofa. When it came time to take down the tree, Junpei and Minako looked at each other.

"Forget it," said Junpei. "Everybody else leaves their Christmas decorations up. We'll take it down next week. Anyway, I'm ready for Fuuka's big showdown with Rise. You're gonna get revenge for me, right Fuuka-chan?"

Fuuka didn't look too happy. "Oh," she said. "Um, o-of course…"

Minako rode over to Junes with Yukari and Junpei. The night before, Rise had mentioned that a girl Minako's age could get a scooter license in Inaba, and that Minako might want to consider looking into it. That way, Minako wouldn't have to wait around for a ride every time she wanted to go somewhere. The idea was a good one, she had to admit, but was there really any point? She resolved to at least look into it the next time she had a free moment.

This time, nobody had to hold hands while they walked into the Velvet Room. They had all been inside so frequently that the door was now visible to each of them. They clustered together around the row of doors, just like always. The difference, this time, was that the distinction between the two groups was significantly less clear.

Junpei, although he was now clearly avoiding Rise, still seemed willing to talk to Chie, with whom he had undergone the thunder ordeal only a few days before. Kanji, Ken, and Naoto, who had spent most of the party together the night before, were chatting together in hushed voices, occasionally shooting looks in between Rise and Fuuka, neither of whom looked all too eager for their long-awaited face off. Yukiko and Mitsuru were deep in conversation as well, which Minako didn't find too surprising. They were both, she admitted to herself, in a moment of catty, feminine weakness, too pretty not to gravitate towards each other and away from everybody else.

"Okay!" Junpei waved a hand towards the door to Kanji's nightmares. "This one was the easiest so far, right? So, let's use this one!"

"Hey-uh," Kanji began, but Junpei either didn't hear him or decided to ignore him.

"So, let me just go over the rules, one more time," he continued. "Fuuka and Rise take turns leading us through Kanji's nightmares. Same number of people in the nightmare each time, or else it's not fair. So, all we have to do is figure out two things. Who is going in, and who is going first?"

Rise and Fuuka looked at each other. "Well," said Rise, with just slightly less of her usual defiant spunk, "I guess I'll go first. Sure. This'll be easy."

Junpei beamed at her with just slightly too much malice in his eyes. "Right! Then, Kanji, I guess you're going in too."

"Um, I could go," Ken reminded him. "Kanji-san and I both have keys to that door, remember"

"I would like to accompany you on this mission," added Naoto, to the apparent chagrin of both Ken and Kanji. "After all, I have not had a chance to fight in quite some time. This will be…fun."

"Whoa," said Kanji. "No, wait, you don't need to go-!"

Ken, at almost the same time, insisted, "Naoto-san, there's no reason why you have to get involved in something like-!"

"Okay, done! Naoto, Ken, and Kanji will go." Junpei cut them all off, and received frustrated glares from all parties. "So, are we ready?"

Rise pulled out her persona card, and summoned Kouzeon. Both Kouzeon and Rise both watched in apprehensive silence as Kanji, Naoto and Ken lined up outside of the door.

"Uh…I can't talk you out of it, can I?" Kanji asked Naoto, more hopefully than perhaps he had intended. Naoto shook her head, and Kanji sighed. "All right. Let's do this. The sooner we get in, the sooner we get out."

"Ready…" began Junpei, "set…and…go!"

Kanji threw open the door, and he, Ken, and Naoto rushed inside. Minako almost ran forward to join them, but a quick glance around at the tense faces on all sides convinced her to stay behind. After all, this was a nightmare that they'd already been a part of, and this time, there would be legitimate backup. How hard could it possibly be? There might be more fires for her to fight outside the nightmare than inside of it.

Everyone was quiet, listening to Rise as she spoke through Kouzeon to the team inside the nightmare. "Okay guys," she said, "this should be pretty easy. You've already defeated the bad guy, right? So all we have to do is get you from one side of the dream to the other. Several feet in front of you there's a herd of…um…shadow teddy bears? Kanji, what is this place?"

Minako, of course, did not hear Kanji's response, but she could only imagine how he and Ken must be feeling right now. After all, Ken had been looking at Naoto as though she was rapidly becoming a hero of his, and Kanji…well, everyone knew, and was very vocal about the crush that Kanji had on Naoto. The nasty little voice in the back of Minako's head told her that she was glad it was Kanji and Ken who had to deal with this, and that it wasn't her.

"Maybe I should have gone in with them," she muttered, more to herself than to anyone else.

Yosuke laughed. "Nah, the man's gotta handle this one for himself. This is his chance to really show Naoto-kun what an impressive guy he can be. Maybe he'll get lucky, she'll get attacked by something, and he'll have to save her."

Minako blinked. "How is that lucky? Besides, Naoto doesn't look like the kind of girl who needs a lot of saving."

Yosuke shrugged. "That's…pretty much true, yeah."

"Um, okay, if you keep going that way, you're going to run right into a…giant clown? Really, a giant clown?" Rise was still focused in on the group inside the nightmare. "Ken-kun, that thing's immune to light and darkness. Go left. No, that's your right! Ugh, sorry, I'm sorry. Go left. Yeah, that way."

Looking over at Fuuka, Minako was surprised to see that Fuuka didn't look interested at all. In fact, Fuuka was staring off into space, mouthing something to herself, apparently oblivious to what was going on around her. That didn't seem right to Minako at all. Shouldn't Fuuka be more interested in the outcome of this than the rest of them? After all, her ability to help the party and use her persona did sort of rest on the results of Junpei's little scheme. Yet, Fuuka looked as though she was somewhere else entirely, at least, in her mind.

The tone of Rise's voice changed suddenly, and Minako could hear instantly that something was very, very wrong.

"What is that thing?" exclaimed Rise, her whole body tensing as she spoke."No way…I can't read anything from it! I've never seen anything like this before, you need to run. No, run! Get out of there!' Rise flinched, let out a little shriek, threw up her hands against an invisible enemy, and shouted "Ken, no! Somebody heal him!"

"What's happening?" demanded Yosuke. Rise shook her head distractedly, and Yosuke grabbed her by both shoulders, spinning her around to face him. "What the hell is going on, Rise? Talk to me!"

Rise shook him off angrily. "Leave me alone," she said, "they need me. There's something really ugly in there, something big, and I can't do a weakness scan. Ken's down, and Kanji's got a wound on his leg that's already bleeding out. I don't understand how the-no! No, you can do it, get back up!" Rises' eyes went wide, and Minako watched as her face turned pale. "No…no, this can't be happening. Please, no, don't give up!"

Everyone held their breaths, not sure of exactly what was going on. Everyone, that is, except for Fuuka.

Fuuka moved.


	29. Chapter Twenty Eight

**Author's Note: **The first half of this chapter is for **SuperNova23**, in thanks for all the excellent advice and encouragement!

Anyway, now we're back to the angst. As you can see, we're getting closer to the end. As promised, there will be three endings, although there are still a few chapters left until we get there.

I should warn you that from this point onwards, some characters are going to have to make some drastic and life-changing decisions. Many of you may disagree with some of my characterization during those moments, and I strongly encourage you to voice those opinions over reviews or PM!

**Chapter Twenty Eight**

"Tell me," said Fuuka, crossing the room to stand by Rise's side.

Rise just stared at her.

"Tell me," insisted Fuuka, more firmly this time. "This is no time for games or contests. Ken-kun is in there. What is going on?"

"I…" began Rise. "I don't know…"

Fuuka sighed. When she spoke again, her voice was gentler and more relaxed than it had been in any of the interactions she'd had with Rise so far. "Let me help you," she begged. "We will get them out of there, I promise? Now, tell me, what do you see?"

Rise swallowed, and nodded. "There's a big shadow, maybe…no, it's two shadows, but they're acting at the same time."

"Like two halves of the same whole," murmured Fuuka. "We've seen things like that before. Each part of the shadow will have a different weakness. You'll need to attack them separately."

"It doesn't have any weaknesses!" squealed Rise. "Everything they throw at it just bounces right off!"

"Then they need to separate one part of the shadow from the other," insisted Fuuka patiently. "Kill one side, that will weaken the other. Have them focus all of their attacks on one piece of the shadow."

Rise was shaking her head miserably. "But it's too late," she wailed. "Ken's down, Kanji's down, and Naoto is-!"

Fuuka stared at her in disbelief. "Are you supporting them or not?" she asked, and Minako, for the first time, saw how much Fuuka had aged since they'd been together in high school. She was a woman, now, not a timid girl who'd been bullied by the popular girls in the hallways. Fuuka was radiating a sense of command and competence that both alarmed Minako and filled her with pride at the same time.

"O-of course I am," said Rise, still trying to hold on to any remnants of her own pride.

"Then heal them," commanded Fuuka.

Minako watched as Rise and Kouzeon performed some sort of healing spell on the party inside the nightmare. It was a strange thing to watch from the outside. Although Rise remained physically present in the room, for a few moments while she was performing the spell, it seemed as though she was outside of her body, entirely distant from the rest of the occupants of the Velvet Room.

After a moment, Fuuka began to look impatient. "Well?" she asked."Is it working?"

Rise's eyes were desperate. "It's not enough…it's not enough, the wounds are too terrible." It looked as though Rise were about to cry.

"Then we need to get them out," said Fuuka. "Focus on helping them escape, as hard as you can."

Rise focused. She focused so hard, and so carefully on her extraction spell that she did apparently notice when Fuuka took out her evoker, and quietly summoned Juno to her side. Minako held her breath. She knew that many of the other people in the room were holding theirs as well, watching and silently praying that Fuuka and Rise's personas didn't cancel out the abilities of the other as they had every other time this had been tried so far.

Fuuka's eyes closed. Her mouth began to move again, silently, deliberately, and Minako could see that she was now in direct contact with the party inside the nightmare.

"Huh? Startled, Rise jerked around to look at Fuuka. "Hey! When did you get in-?"

Fuuka put a hand gently on Rise's shoulder. "Please," she murmured. "Concentrate."

A few tense, silent minutes passed by, while both Rise and Fuuka focused all of their attention and ability on their friends inside the nightmare room. Minako had to stifle a smile when Rise suddenly exclaimed, "Wha-that was amazing! You healed them! All of them! How did you do that?"

"Juno can perform an ability called Oracle," said Fuuka simply. "Now, they've recovered. Can you get them out?"

As Minako watched, the two personas, Kouzeon and Juno, drifted closer and closer together, until their arms were almost touching behind the backs of the two heavily concentrating girls. Yosuke and Minako exchanged a look, but neither of them spoke. The atmosphere was heavy with the feeling of anxious waiting, up until the moment that Kanji, Naoto, and Ken came bursting suddenly through the door.

"What the hell?" shouted Kanji, sweat rolling down his forehead as he stared wildly around the room. "What was that thing?"

Naoto looked shaken. "Kanji-kun," she panted, "your head is a terrifying place."

Ken, after catching his breath, looked over towards Rise and Fuuka, both of whom were opening their eyes and looking exhausted. As Fuuka began to sink down to the floor, Rise grabbed her arm and supported her until she'd managed to get back to her feet. Fuuka smiled a hesitant little smile at Rise, reminiscent of the old, timid Fuuka that Minako remembered from the beginning of her short time at Gekkoukan.

"You did it!" Rise breathed. "You did it, they're okay!" Then, in a slightly less triumphant voice, she added, "I…I guess that means you win."

Fuuka shook her head. "No, I can't have won…Rise-chan, it's still your turn."

"But…" Rise looked as though she were about to say something, but suddenly she glanced down at the floor, apparently distracted by something. "Wait, what's that?" She bent down to retrieve the large, brass double key that had somehow appeared just below the place where the two personas were standing.

"Oh," whispered Fuuka. "This is…"

Rise handed the key over to her, and she, in turn walked over and passed it to Minako. Minako looked from the key to the door with the four locks. Something inside of her sank into her shoes, and she realized that for the last second or two she had forgotten to breathe.

When she looked up again, she found that Junpei, too, was staring at the key, and there was an unexpectedly grim, determined look on his face.

"Let's call it a day," he said, and he didn't sound like Minako's beloved Junpei anymore. His voice was harsh, quiet, and disturbingly mature. He was a different man from the one who had walked into the television not an hour before.

Rise and Fuuka didn't argue. The idea of winning or losing the contest no longer seemed very important. Juno and Kouzeon disappeared, and the two girls led the rest of the group out of the Velvet Room and into the electronics department of Junes.

So, thought Minako, as they stood amongst the rows of televisions on display for sale. This is it. We've found the last key. When we go through that door, then…

"Minako." She turned to see Yosuke walking quickly towards her. In a moment of sudden, irrational panic, she stepped backwards, and stumbled into a television monitor, couldn't catch herself in time, and ended up supporting herself against Yosuke's outstretched arm.

"Hey!" Yosuke threw out his other arm to steady her. "Hey, are you okay? You look terrible. You're not getting sick, are you? We should get you home."

"No, I'm fine." Minako recoiled from him and scrambled back to stand on her own two feet. "I'm all right, really. It was just that…for a moment there, I…"

For a moment there, thought Minako, I realized that I've run out of time. She knew that she didn't have to say it out loud, that Yosuke already knew, already understood what the fourth key meant. He'd been waiting, hoping for that to happen all this time, hadn't he?

She took a couple of steps away from him, uncertain of just what she was worried that he was going to do, but positive in that moment that he wasn't, and had never been on her side. Fear coursed unhindered through her entire body, flooding her with the desire to turn around and run for it, to run away from all of these horrible people that were determined to push her back towards a fate that she'd never asked for in the first place. She had to get out of here, had to get as far away from here as she could, to a place where they'd never find her, and never be able to send her back there, back to that empty, nothing-filled void of death.

"Hey! Minako!" She could see her own fear echoed in Yosuke's face, as he stopped in his tracks and stared at her. She wondered what she must look like to him right now. He must think I'm crazy, she thought. Maybe I am crazy. After all, this was what she'd been expecting and preparing for, wasn't it? So why all of these feelings all of a sudden?

Slowly, Minako felt her senses begin to return, and she could feel herself breathing again, hesitantly, but steadily. She let Yosuke put a supportive arm around her shoulders and walk her back towards the rest of the group, all of whom were staring at her with wide-eyed concern.

"I'm sorry," she began, but Yosuke cut her off.

"No," he insisted. "No, don't say that. Let's…let's just get you back to Junpei's."

**That evening, at Junpei's house…**

Later that night, Minako sat in the kitchen and stared into a cup of coffee at she listened to both her and Yosuke's friends talking amongst themselves.

"We should go to the shrine tonight," Yukiko was saying. "To pray for the best luck when we decide to go through that big door."

"Yeah," agreed Chie. "I mean, with the way things have been going so far, we'll need all the luck we can get."

Luck, thought Minako. She could tell by the looks on everyone's faces that luck would mean something very different for each and every one of them.

"Ooh! And we can stay tonight at the inn, too," added Yukiko, apparently warming to the idea of another sort of party. "It'll be like a last hurrah before the final battle!"

Someone, Minako wasn't sure who, inhaled sharply, and as Yukiko looked around the room, her eyes rested on Minako, and her face fell.

"Oh," she murmured, "no, I didn't…I didn't mean it like that, I really didn't. I just meant that…" She stopped, and bit her lip. All around, grim faces exchanged foreboding looks.

Minako closed her eyes. This won't do, she told herself, willing her heart to stop beating quite so fast. She'd known for a long time now, of course, that there was going to be no turning back. Panicking and pleading at this point wouldn't achieve anything. All of these people had been, up until this moment, united in a common goal. She couldn't let that fall apart now, or everything they'd worked towards would be lost.

But, that's what I want, thought the horrible little voice in the back of Minako's troubled mind. I want everything to be lost. I want this mission to fail. I always have. Haven't I?

Minako forced herself to speak up. "I think," she said, in a cheery voice that she was surprised to hear come out of her own mouth, "that the shrine sounds like a wonderful idea. Chie's right. A little luck and guidance couldn't hurt us any, right?"

She laughed a careful, nervous laugh, and to her relief someone behind her laughed as well. Some of the faces in the room began to look more confused than angry or distressed. Minako met Yukari's eyes, and took a deep breath, willing the other girl to understand, to be the friend Minako needed right here and right now.

"And…" said Yukari slowly, her eyes never leaving Minako's for a moment, "we could get dressed up. It may not be the first shrine visit of the year, but really, any excuse to get dressed up, right? Besides, it's a sign of respect."

Thank you, thought Minako, nodding and smiling slightly at Yukari. Yukari looked away.

Everyone began talking, quietly at first, then more and more enthusiastically about an evening trip to the shrine. Yukari, Minako saw, had separated from the group and gone off to talk quietly with Junpei, who was sitting on the sofa with Shinjiro. Minako tried to catch Shinjiro's eye, but he was either completely oblivious or purposefully not looking in her direction.

I told him, she reminded herself, that he didn't have to be strong for me. I told him that we should focus on enjoying each other during the time that we had left.

But now, came that little, unpleasant voice again, now, that time is up. What do I tell him now?


	30. Chapter Twenty Nine

**Author's Note: **Oh, how lovely. My boss called this morning to tell me that schools are closed and so I have the first part of the day off of work. I didn't think that I would get a chapter done until late tonight, but maybe I'll do that now and use tonight for sleeping…what a novel idea. Huzzah!

This is our last big romantic moment between our doomed couple. Alas.

We haven't seen a lot of Yosuke lately, have we? Well, very soon we're going to get a big, exciting Yosuke moment, as well as the long-awaited return of Aigis in the next couple of chapters, so stay tuned!

**Chapter Twenty Nine**

Minako drifted aimlessly around the house, avoiding other people's eyes, until she found herself sitting at the top of the stairs to Junpei's bedroom, crouched down against the wall. It wasn't likely that anyone was going to think to come up there to look for her, she thought, and for the moment she wanted a few minutes to breathe and be alone.

Minako wasn't sure who exactly she was avoiding. She both wanted to see and desperately did not want to see Shinjiro. The others were all getting ready for the visit to the shrine, and as long as she stayed out of their way, the whole mood of the gathering improved.

It's easier to forget about me if I'm not there, she thought. As long as she was out of the picture, no one had to think about the repercussions of this mission to save Narukami. They could just enjoy getting dressed up and spending time together again. She tried to be mature enough not to resent that, and failed. After everything that had happened, they still just wanted to forget.

It was like attending her own funeral or memorial service. Minako, like most other people, had occasionally imagined what it might feel like to watch other people mourning for her after her death. She had wondered what they might say, what sort of things they might cry about the most. It wasn't, she had to admit, something that she was terribly proud of, but everyone wonders how they'll be remembered. We think of it, she realized, as a testament to how much we're loved.

This, of course, wasn't anything like what she'd imagined. No one ever liked to think about the fact that once you've died, people have to find some way to move on. They'd moved on once, and they were moving on already, before she'd even gone. Practice, she thought bitterly, makes perfect.

Taking a deep breath, Minako got to her feet, planted a pleasant smile on her miserable face, and walked down the stairs to find the men all gone, and the women clustered around the sofa and giggling excitedly. As Minako got closer, she saw that they were looking over a collection of winter kimonos that someone had laid out in rows on the sofa cushions.

When they saw Minako,, they all predictably went silent. Without even thinking about it, Minako felt her forced smile get wider and more welcoming. "Hey!" she heard herself say, in exactly the upbeat, positive way that she didn't feel. "Are you guys wearing kimonos? Wow, these are beautiful…"

They were beautiful. Even in her dejected state, Minako was dazzled by the colors and fabrics. Reaching out with one hand, she ran her fingers along the lining of one of the kimonos, and felt the heavier winter fabric in between her thumb and forefinger. It was amazing, she thought, that these girls all owned one of these. They were expensive, difficult to make, and Minako herself had never owned one. She'd worn a winter kimono once, but it had been huge on her, uncomfortable and poorly fitted.

"Um, Minako-chan," said Yukiko hesitantly. "If…if you like, we have one that you can borrow."

"Oh, yeah!' Chie glanced over the row of kimonos, and gathered one arm in her arms to pass to Minako. "I mean, I think you and I are about the same size, so this should probably fit."

The kimono that Chie thrust into Minako's arms was in shades of very deep green, decorated with a pattern of pine needles. Minako found herself recognizing not for the first time, that Chie didn't seem to wear anything that wasn't green.

She looked up to see that all of the girls were watching her anxiously. "Thank you so much," she said, and she didn't quite have to force herself to give Chie a grateful smile. "This is beautiful. I'll be very careful with it."

All of the faces around her relaxed slightly. "Okay," said Yukari, pushing to the front of the group. "Come on, Mina-chan, we can help each other put them on."

"Where did the guys go?" asked Minako, as Yukari helped her into the kimono. Chie had been right. It did fit relatively well. Chie, of course, due to all of her training, was toned and muscular in places where Minako wasn't, but the kimono was forgiving enough that Minako was sure no one would notice the slightly imperfect fit.

"Oh, they went on ahead," Yukari told her. "We didn't want them around while we were getting dressed. Oh, I don't' know what happened to Junpei though. No one's seen him since we got back from Junes." After one more tug on the bow, Yukari stepped back, looking pleased. "There, that's finished. Now, my turn!"

Minako wondered, as she helped Yukari into her kimono, where Junpei had gone. Had it been too hard for him to be around, watching everyone get ready to go out and celebrate? She wished he would have stayed. Somehow, Junpei's presence always made her feel a little bit safer.

**Shortly afterwards, at the shrine…**

Walking in a kimono was hard. Minako was not used to making such careful, measured movements with her feet, or to keeping them so close together. She felt more feminine than usual just for making the attempt. She could see on the faces of several of the guys who met them at the shrine that they, too, were surprised to see her looking so much like a lady.

Of course, no one created more of a stir than Naoto, who was inexplicably also wearing a kimono, and looking terrified.

"We talked her into it," whispered Yukari as they walked up the shrine together. "We told her that we need all the luck that we can get, and that she'd be letting us down if she refused."

Minako stared. "Why would you do something like that?" she asked.

Yukari gestured briefly over at Kanji, who was staring at Naoto with glazed-over eyes, as though he'd just been welcomed prematurely through the pearly gates of heaven, and now wasn't sure what to do with hands.

"That's why," said Yukari.

Minako heard footsteps behind her, and Yukari turned around. "Oh," murmured Yukari. "Um. Excuse me, Mina-chan, I'll um…I have to talk to Fuuka. I'll see you later, okay?"

"Wait, what? No, don't-!" Minako began, but it was too late. Yukari hurried off faster than Minako had thought anyone could in a kimono. She turned around to see what it was that had made Yukari leave so quickly.

Shinjiro was standing behind her, his hands shoved into his coat pockets to keep them warm. He was looking at Minako with an amazed expression on his face, and when she raised an eyebrow at him, he looked quickly away from her.

"Wow," he said.

"Wow?" Minako couldn't help but laugh. "Is that all I get?"

"What else do you want me to say?" Shinjiro shook his head. "You're…uh, you look great."

Suddenly, Minako felt more self conscious than she had up until this moment. At the same time, it was nice to see the way that he was looking at her. Every girl, she thought, wants to think that she's beautiful.

Shinjiro slipped his arm around Minako's waist, holding her a little closer than perhaps he needed to. He led her forward towards the shrine. "Come on," he said. "We should pray."

"What are you going to pray for?" asked Minako.

Shinjiro frowned. "A second ago I thought I knew. I forgot now. Something, uh, distracted me." He gave her a quick look, and this time it was her turn to blush.

His answer was, of course, a surprise to Minako. Although she would never have said something so selfish out loud, she had been sure that Shinjiro would be here to pray for her health and safe return from the place behind the door. After all, he had never pretended to care much about Yu Narukami.

Shinjiro must have seen the slightly disappointed look on her face, because he shook his head, and his face darkened for a moment. "Some things," he muttered, "you don't just leave up to fate, okay?"

What, wondered Minako, did that mean?

As they stood together at the shrine, Minako cast a glance around, hoping to see Junpei in the crowd. She couldn't find him anywhere. Maybe, she thought, he'd already prayed and left. Would he do something like that? Maybe he couldn't stand to be around the others right now.

Minako tried to focus on her prayer. It seemed terrible to wish for the failure of the mission, and so she didn't do it. Instead, she silently begged the heavens for another way out, and hoped that any available higher powers would forgive her for not being quite ready for self-sacrifice.

"I'm not gonna let you go again," murmured Shinji. Uncharacteristically, he reached down and squeezed her hand in his. "Don't' worry. It'll be okay." His hand was much larger, and it enveloped hers, which she liked. It made her feel safer, even while she knew that his words were inevitably empty.

"All right," she said, for lack of anything else. There wasn't any point in arguing now. Besides, she didn't want to argue. She wanted to let him protect her for a little bit longer.

Instead of taking the car back to the inn for the night, Shinjiro and Minako walked. It was a long walk, and the weather wasn't exactly balmy, but it gave the two of them a few minutes together, and Minako treasured each one of them.

"I wish it had snowed on Christmas," she said, as they passed through the deserted shopping district. "I wanted to have a chance to see the snow with you this time."

"Yeah, well." Shinjiro shrugged. "Maybe next year."

After a moment, Minako tried again. "Then again, it would have been nice if I'd been here for the summer instead. I hear there's a wonderful summer festival in Inaba."

"That's only a few months away," said Shinjiro. "If you want to go, I'll take you."

Now, thought Minako, he was just being obstinate.

She didn't say anything else until they'd reached the inn, aware that anything she might say would be useless against Shinjiro's stoic refusal to accept the truth. It wasn't until the rest of the group had broken up for the night, and Minako had walked Shinjiro to his room that she finally decided to voice her thoughts out loud.

"Shinji," she said, "We're probably going into the television again tomorrow."

"Yeah," grunted Shinjiro.

"So…it's time." She felt him pull his hand away from her, but kept going nonetheless. "It's not going to do any good to pretend that we aren't-!"

"You don't understand," said Shinjiro, more aggressively than Minako had expected. He looked at her with unyielding eyes. "You're not leaving me. I don't care what it takes, or what I have to do. Nobody else matters."

He kissed her then, fiercely, possessively, and Minako could feel through that kiss all the things that she didn't need him to say, about how he was there for her, would always be there for her, would stand between her and anything that dared try to take her away from him. Her kimono slipped off of one shoulder, and Shinjiro's mouth moved down to that bare shoulder, then up across her collarbone, his arms tightening around her and crushing her to him as though he was never going to let her go again.

I love you, senpai, thought Minako, and tears unexpectedly welled up in her eyes. She moved a hand to brush them away, and as she did so a tear or two must have fallen on to Shinjiro, because he looked up and saw the expression on her face. He released her so suddenly that she stumbled back against the wall.

"Sorry," he muttered. "I shouldn't…I'm not trying to make you feel worse."

This time, however, Minako reached out to him. "No," she insisted, "you won't…you can't. I feel better just being with you. I need to be close to you, Shinji. I think that's the only thing that could make me feel any better right now. I need to know how you feel. If you can't tell me, then show me."

Slowly, Shinjiro took her back into his arms. This time, she was the one who kissed him, closing her eyes and letting herself and all of her terrors melt against him and into him until they'd fallen back on to the bed together. She lifted his shirt over his head, and rested her own head against his chest for a moment as his hands reached around her to deal with the ties on the kimono.

A moment went by as he tugged at it. Then, in a slightly breathless voice, Shinjiro asked "Wh-how did you even tie this thing?"

"I don't know," mumbled Minako. "Yukari did it."

The sigh of deep frustration that came out of Shinjiro caused Minako to laugh, really, genuinely laugh for the first time that day.


	31. Chapter Thirty

**Author's Note: **So, here we are, in the last chapter before we reach the True Ending. Now, I am going to do exactly what I promised. I will post the True Ending, which will consist of a couple of chapters in itself,and shortly afterwards I will post the Bad and Normal endings for your reading pleasure.

There's a problem, though. I've been looking over my notes and my outlines for this story, and in the last few weeks I've come up with a ton more places to take these characters (at least, the ones who survive) and a ton more plot episodes. When I started this project, I thought it would be a very short-lived thing, but now I'm seriously considering writing a sequel. I've already got most of it plotted out…

So, I'll leave it up to you. Would you all read a sequel, if I wrote it, or have we had enough of this story for now? I'm not sure if fanfiction stories ever even have sequels…I certainly haven't seen any of them posted since I've been here.

Oh, and thank you to **Gin Nanashi** for helping to correct a factual error in this chapter!

**Chapter Thirty**

That night, Minako dreamed of the Velvet Room.

Igor, again, was absent. Instead, it was Margaret who greeted Minako with a grim expression on her face.

"It's time," she said.

Minako bit her lip. "What, now? But…Shinji…"

Margaret shook her head impatiently. "If not now, then when will it be time? This cannot be put off forever. Eventually your fate will catch up with you. You must go now, while your friends are not there to hinder you. If you allow yourself to wait for them, to say goodbye, then you'll never have the courage to do it, and everything you have fought for will be lost.

That, Minako knew, was true. She would undoubtedly let her friends convince her that she could put this off for one more day, and then one more day after that. She wouldn't be able to leave Shinji if he looked at her againwith that quietly protective expression in his eyes that she'd seen just before she'd fallen asleep. She would stay until he told her that he was ready to let her go, unless she left now.

"Yes," she told Margaret. "I understand."

Margaret nodded once, and there were hints of both sadness and satisfaction in her eyes as she and the Velvet Room around her began to flicker, waver, and blur. It vanished slowly, and Minako awoke in darkness, with the daylight still a long ways away.

Shinjiro was still lying on the bed, one arm cradling Minako against his side. His fists were clenched in sleep, and Minako wondered if he, too, had been dreaming about the end.

Quietly, she slipped away from him and over to the bag she'd packed, where she found and put on the Gekkoukan school uniform. Somehow, it was the only thing that seemed appropriate to wear through the final door.

Then, without a backward glance, Minako walked out of the room and into the hallway. She knew that if she stopped to look back, she wouldn't be able to hold back the tears, and the time for tears was over. She didn't try to deny to herself that she was frightened, or that she still wanted a way out. That didn't matter. It was time for her to keep her promise to Yosuke, before she lost her nerve or changed her mind.

Minako wasn't surprised to find Yosuke waiting for her in the hallway, and she couldn't explain that feeling. There was, of course, no way that Yosuke could have known she was coming. Still, his being here made a sort of sense in her mind that she didn't try too hard to rationalize. For all she knew, maybe Margaret had visited him in his sleep as well.

They left the inn together, and drove to Junes. As they were sitting side by side in the car, Yosuke said, without taking his eyes off the road, "This doesn't feel right. It's like I'm some kind of criminal, sneaking off in the middle of the night like this."

Minako just shrugged. She didn't feel much like talking.

"I mean…" Yosuke seemed to be talking more to himself than to her, in any case. "This really is a crime, isn't it? I mean, murder is a crime, and we…that's what we're going to do. What I'm going to do."

"It's not murder if you're not forcing me into it," muttered Minako.

"Would you be doing it if I wasn't here?" Yosuke insisted. Minako chose not to respond to that. The answer was too complicated to put into words. "A year ago," continued Yosuke, "I was all proud of myself for catching a murderer. I thought that I was better than that asshole. And now…"

Minako sighed. "You are better than him," she insisted.

"Yeah? Well, so are you." Yosuke looked over at her for a moment, and there was something desperate in his eyes that Minako hadn't seen there before. "You're better than that, so why are you the one that has to die? Murderers deserve to die, maybe. That's what some people say anyway, but you…you're just a nice girl. It doesn't make sense."

"Look at this way," said Minako. "I killed your best friend. It's an eye for an eye."

"Nah." Yosuke shook his head, slowly, and turned back to the road so that he could negotiate a corner. "I can't see it that way anymore. That's not what happened, right? We're all victims here."

He fell silent, and Minako didn't try to encourage him to any further speech. She didn't particularly relish the idea of being a 'victim,' as Yosuke had put it, even if part of her subconscious was screaming out for someone to save her. If she was going to go through with this, then she was damned well going to be a hero, and not put up with any of this damsel in distress nonsense that the secret part of her psyche was trying to force her into. If something's worth doing, she thought, it's worth doing well, and everyone would prefer to die a hero than a victim.

Save me, said the treacherous voice at the edge of Minako's mind. Save me, please.

They pulled up in front of the electronics department, and went inside with Yosuke's key, crossing through the TV into the shadow world. Margaret and Igor were both waiting for them in the Velvet Room, and Minako found herself standing up a little bit straighter as she faced the two of them like the hero that she was ready and unwilling to be.

"Well," she said, "I'm here." Her voice sounded smaller than she'd hoped it would. "They're in there, aren't they?"

Margaret nodded. "I can feel Elizabeth and Theodore's presences just beyond that door," she confirmed. "They will be expecting you."

Minako had nothing to say to that. She glanced over at Igor, who was wearing his usual, creepily excited expression, and considered taking this moment to say all of the things that she had always wanted to say, about how he was strange, gave her nightmares, grinned too much for comfort, and for that matter should probably use the kind of toothpaste that would whiten his teeth.

"Okay," she said instead, and held out her hand for the four double keys. Igor passed them each over to her, and she turned on her heel and strode to the final door.

"I'll need you to hold some of these," she told Yosuke. "Here, you take these two. We should try to fit them into the locks all at the same time."

"Uh…do we really have to do that?" Yosuke asked.

Minako shrugged. "I don't know. Let's try it and see." Somehow, she was sure that just putting the keys in one by one wouldn't be enough. Every other piece of this convoluted game had been ridiculously complex. Why should this part be any different?

"What's behind that door?" Yosuke looked uncertain. "We don't even know what we're up against. Maybe we should wait for the others after all."

Minako shook her head. She already knew what was behind the door, and only now realized that she had known the whole time. "It's my nightmare world," she told him. "My nightmares are in there. Elizabeth and Theodore. The ones that took Narukami, they're hiding in there too."

"Please tell me," muttered Yosuke, "that you have lots of nightmares about oversized cakes and getting dumped by ex boyfriends, and other innocent, girly stuff like that."

Minako blinked at him. "Oversized…cakes?" she asked. Then, she pushed open the door.

The room was, of course, not filled with exes or cakes. It was filled with exactly the thing that Minako had expected to find. The walls of the room were lined with glowing coffins, coffins that very much resembled those that had once lined the streets of Iwatodai during the dark hour. In the very center of the room was a tall spiral staircase, dark and shadowy, with a landing or platform just visible at its very top.

It didn't ,thought Minako, really look anything like Tartarus. For one thing, it was much too small, almost as though it had been intended as a toy version of the shadow tower. Still, nothing ever looked the same in dreams as it did in real life.

"Whoa," said Yosuke. "Okay, just tell me now, and get it over with. What's in the coffins? It better not be vampires…or zombies. I am not okay with vampires or zombies."

As Yosuke ranted on, Minako's attention was distracted by a figure that was standing in shadow just a few feet in front of her. The silhouette was familiar, so achingly familiar that Minako hurried forward a few paces to try and get a look at the figure's face. Upon closer inspection, she could see that it was a girl. She had short blond hair, and was wearing a black coat over what looked to Minako like a pair of very muscular shoulders. There was something oddly and yet familiarly glassy about the girl's eyes when she turned them on Minako and smiled.

"Aigis," whispered Minako.

Aigis nodded. "I am delighted that you remember me after so many years have passed. It is a pleasure to see you again, Minako-san."

"Hey, you…you know this girl?" Yosuke stared back and forth in between Minako and Aigis. "Oh, wait; this is a shadow, right? A shadow of one your old friends?" He made a grab for his persona card, and Minako held up a hand hurriedly to stop him.

"This isn't a shadow," she insisted. "This is Aigis, she's…"

Aigis nodded. "No," she said, "I am not human. I am not 'a real person,' but neither am I a shadow. I have been waiting for you here, Minako-san. I knew that you would find the strength to come."

"You did this," murmured Minako, realization dawning sickeningly. "You're the one who changed the seal, who resealed Narukami. Why didn't I see it before? It had to have been you, you're the only one that has that kind of power."

"Yes," agreed Aigis. "It was I who exchanged your soul for the soul of Yu Narukami. As you were both persona users, and both wielders of the wild card, it was not a difficult task. Both of you possess the power of social bonds, far stronger than any other bonds I have ever encountered. Only he could serve as the new seal." Her smile wavered for a moment, and she looked briefly guilty. "I am sorry, of course, that it took such a long time. Narukami did not awaken to his power until this year. I was not aware of him until very recently. Please forgive me. My weakness and lack of understanding is the cause of your being trapped within the seal for so long."

"Oh, I wouldn't take all the credit, Aigis," said a very feminine voice from somewhere behind Aigis' back. "You're not the only one here who took her time solving the problem."

Minako peered over Aigis' shoulder, and saw Elizabeth and Theodore, standing side by side at the very top of the nightmare Tartarus tower.

Aigis inclined her head slightly in Elizabeth's direction. "That," she said, "of course, is true. Without Elizabeth-san and Theodore-san's assistance, I would never have been able to find the key to your release."

"You're welcome, of course," said Elizabeth. Minako was chilled by the hint of giggle that always seemed to be hiding just underneath Elizabeth's voice. In this context, there was something alarming about it, even though she knew she'd always found it charming back in high school.

"Cut the crap," shouted Yosuke, and Minako spun around to look at him. Caught up in seeing Aigis, she had almost forgotten that he was in the room.

"You can't just talk about my friend that way, like he was some kind of arcade token that you turn in for a prize." Yosuke's nostrils were flaring, and his persona card was already clutched in his hand. "You're gonna pay for what you did to Yu."

Aigis narrowed her eyes. "If you insist on fighting," she informed Yosuke, "I must warn you that I am very skilled. I suggest that you give up on this plan of vengeance. I have worked very hard to release Minako-san from the seal. It need not be said that I will not allow anything to stand in my way at this juncture."

Aigis and Yosuke were now glaring at each other, each of them poised for battle. Yosuke looked angry enough to do some serious damage, and Minako was well aware that Aigis wasn't exaggerating about her combat expertise. Uncertain of what else to do, Minako drew her own persona card and made as if to step in between Yosuke and Aigis, saying as she moved, "No, wait, this isn't what I-!"

"Oh, no." Elizabeth's voice interrupted Minako mid-stride. "Don't be so ungrateful, Minako-chan. This is all for you, isn't it? Here, you look tired. I bet you've had a long few days. Why not sit back and relax for a minute? There, now…"

From nowhere, a large, iron chair appeared right behind Minako's ankles. Startled by the sudden cold feeling against the back of her shins, she stumbled mid-step and fell backwards into the chair. Instantly, a set of leather belts shot out around her, and she found herself strapped firmly into the chair, struggling feebly and unable to reach her persona card, which had fallen to the floor when she'd lost her footing.

"Now," murmured Elizabeth, "That's better. Aigis? We can't let anything happen to her, now that we've finally freed her, can we?"

Aigis readied herself for battle. Pallas Athena burst forth from her psyche and touched down just in front of her to stare into Yosuke's now apprehensive eyes.

"We cannot," Aigis agreed. "I am prepared to terminate, at your command, any who try to interfere."


	32. True Ending - Part One

**Author's Note: **Oh dear, a lot of you did NOT like that chapter. I apologize to those of you who seem to have been disappointed. Perhaps I will get better at writing these stories as I practice more.

Well, I'm going to finish what I've begun, and it's a little late in the game to be changing plot and characters now, not that I think I really want to change them. Honestly, I'm pretty happy with how this all turned out. In my defense, I really do believe that under duress and certain emotional circumstances, other sides of people's personalities begin to show. Isn't that what Persona 4 was all about? So, of course, when placed in different circumstances, characters will behave slightly differently and react in slightly different ways.

Plus, Elizabeth never really did seem to be quite right in the head.

Anyway, for what it's worth, the True Ending will have three parts. Here is part one. I will post the other two over the next couple of days, although I readily confess that getting several PM messages that say things like OMG THAT IS SO WRONG HOW CAN YOU DO THAT I USED TO LOVE THIS STORY NOW I HATE IT is a little discouraging! At least please do have the courtesy to use lowercase letters. It's much easier on the eyes, and I do have pretty bad eye trouble…

**The True Ending - Part One**

Minako struggled helplessly against the straps of the chair, desperate to get to Aigis and Yosuke before they got to each other.

"Oh…this looks so familiar," said Elizabeth. Minako watched as she came down from the top of the tower to watch the conflict more closely.

Minako stared at her. "What do you mean, familiar?" she asked.

Elizabeth sighed. "You won't like it," she told Minako. "You won't like it at all. You have to understand, Minako-chan, we did this for you. Everything you showed us, everything you taught us; Aigis, Theodore and I…it didn't mean anything once you were gone. You taught us how to feel, how to understand…and we did feel. We felt so much for you. There were so many feelings, we couldn't take it anymore, and…" Beseechingly, she bit her lip and looked into Minako's face. "You do understand, don't you? We did this for you. Because you matter to us."

Something about what Elizabeth had just said wasn't sitting well with Minako. There was something that she didn't understand completely. Distracted from her struggling for a moment, she asked, partly afraid of the answer, "What…what was all for me? Elizabeth, what did you do?"

Aigis' eyes barely flickered away from Yosuke's for a moment, but the briefest of glances was exchanged between her and Elizabeth. Elizabeth sighed. "Well…this isn't the first time that Aigis and I have met Yosuke-kun."

Now it was Yosuke's turn to be surprised. "Wait, what?" he asked. "I think I would remember a crazy mechanical chick. No, I've definitely never seen you before. Quit trying to play mind games."

Elizabeth laughed, and then put her hand over her mouth, as though ashamed of her own laughter. "Oh, but…that' so strange. I'm not playing mind games with you. I've already played them. That's why you don't remember."

Yosuke and Minako looked at each other in blank confusion.

"Okay," said Elizabeth. "I guess I can tell you now."

The chair restraining Minako vanished, and she collapsed onto the ground. Instantly, Aigis was at her side, reaching down to help her back to her feet. Minako took the hand hesitantly, uncertain if this was the same Aigis whom she had come to love so much in their days at Gekkoukan. Would the Aigis she knew have done something horrible like this?

"Please," said Aigis, suddenly averting her eyes. "Do not look at me as though I have betrayed you. I have done nothing but what one friend should do to save the life of another. How have I done wrong?"

There was something so human about the pleading way Aigis asked the question that for a moment, Minako was sure that the old Aigis, her beloved Aigis was still there.

"Please," began Minako, appealing to the humanity that she now knew still existed in Aigis' soul, "Aigis, you've hurt someone else, hurt them terribly. Narukami and all of his friends are suffering because of what you've done to save me. We have to put things right, together; we have to bring him back. That's the way it should be. I need you to help me."

That, however, seemed to be too much to ask. Aigis' face hardened ever so slightly, and she drew herself away from Minako, shaking her head. "To protect one's own loved ones at all costs, even at the cost of someone else's happiness…is that not a human thing to do? Love is a human feeling. We cannot love everyone as though they were our own. Some people must come before others. I know that is how you feel, as well, Minako-san."

"Of course," but…" Minako couldn't seem to find the words to negate that. "It's not that simple," she finally insisted, frustrated by her own lack of ability to refute Aigis' logic.

Next to her, Minako could still hear Yosuke arguing with Elizabeth.

"You won't remember," Elizabeth was saying. "But not too long ago, there was a tournament in this television world. You were all there! You, Yu Narukami, your friends Chie, Yukiko, Kanji, Teddie…all of you."

"That's not true," insisted Yosuke. "Nothing like that ever happened."

"When I met you there," Elizabeth continued, "I finally realized what it was I'd been looking for! Yu Narukami, the only other human holder of the wild card! He was the only one I'd ever seen who had social bonds strong enough to rival those of Minako-chan. He was perfect! The only problem was that while he was there, you and he met Mitsuru-san, Akihiko-san, Fuuka-san…and you all formed bonds of your own. What was I supposed to do? How was I going to replace the seal and rescue Minako-chan if your friends and her friends were tightly bonded to each other? They would never have allowed it. Through the strength of the bonds that you had together, you would have been able to stop me and you wouldn't have given up until you'd succeeded. It was a very difficult problem."

Minako's mouth had gone dry. Things were starting to become clearer. In a voice that came out much more hoarsely than she'd hoped, she asked, "Elizabeth, what did you do to them?"

Elizabeth shrugged. "I broke the bonds," she said. "Look around you. There are doors here, doors into each of your minds and into your inner selves. It was easy! The bonds between you and Minako-chan's friends weren't very strong yet. Some bonds cannot be broken, but these…these were barely formed! All I had to do was to take those memories out of your minds, to make you forget. Easy, right? Then, there was no reason for you all to gang up on me."

Yosuke was breathing hard, and he had trouble getting out the first few words of what he said next. "Y-you…you messed with my head? With my memories?"

Minako couldn't help but be surprised by this. After everything that had happened, after all of the strange things they'd seen in each other's nightmares, Yosuke was concerned that someone had messed with his head? Hadn't they all been messing with each other's heads all this time?

Turning to Aigis, Minako asked, "Aigis, what about you? Did you help with this?"

Aigis shook her head sadly. "No. My memories, of course, have also been taken." Seeing the shock on Minako's face, Aigis added, "it was necessary to make sure that I, too, did not form bonds with Yu Narukami's friends. If my resolve were to waver, then I might have been unable to perform the exchange."

"You let her do this?" Minako had trouble believing that. "You let her into your mind, to tamper with your memories?"

"It was necessary," repeated Aigis, but her eyes flickered for a moment, and Minako saw the doubt behind them.

Minako felt the fury building up inside of her. These two people, people she had trusted and come to care about, they were the ones who had put her and her friends in this position. They had caused so much pain, both to her and to the people she cared about, and what was worse, they had done it all in her name, all with the crazed idea that it would somehow make Minako happy. Aigis' mistakes Minako almost understood. After all, Aigis had only recently begun to understand the meaning of humanity. Human emotions and experiences would still be traumatizing to her, no wonder she had tried so hard to find some way to assuage them. Elizabeth, on the other hand…Elizabeth may not have been human, but somehow, she had no excuse. She was a resident of the Velvet Room, a controller of persona. In some ways, even while Minako had been teaching her, Elizabeth had always seemed to be some kind of magical mentor.

It was to Elizabeth, therefore, that Minako finally blazed out, "How could you do this to me?"

Elizabeth blinked. "But I told you," she insisted. "I wanted to-!"

Minako shook her head, unwilling to hear it again. "Set it right," she said, and this time her voice was quiet, but hard as steel. "Put things back the way they were, before anyone else gets hurt."

The entire Velvet Room seemed to stand still for a moment. Then, for the first time, Theodore spoke up.

"Please," he insisted, "be reasonable. You cannot ask us to do this, after we have worked so long just to bring you back to us."

Minako was desperate. "You have to listen to me," she almost begged. "There must be a way that you can-!"

A commotion behind her stopped her in mid-sentence and made her turn her head. The entire combined membership of both SEES and what was once the investigation team came flooding into the room, with Shinjiro at the head.

"Minako!" he shouted, and ran towards her, but then stopped, and stared at Aigis.

"Aigis? What…what's going on here?" he asked.

Minako looked across at the faces of all of her friends, each of whom had come all this way just to have their hearts broken a second time by Minako's wavering fate. This was her last chance, she thought, to put things back to the way they should have been, and time was now running out. She had to do this, had to make Aigis understand before someone intervened, again, with the supposed best of intentions, and destroyed her opportunity to bring Narukami back.

"Aigis," she said, staring at the mechanical girl. "Look at me. I know that you realize what this means."

Aigis did not look at Minako for a long moment. When their eyes finally met, Aigis had a broken, dejected look on her face that was more human than anything Minako had ever seen there before.

"I am sorry," murmured Aigis. "I have hurt you. I only wished to protect you, to right the wrong that I had done by sealing death inside of you so many years ago."

"It's all right," insisted Minako, although it wasn't, and might never be again. "I forgive you. But please, can we…can we still fix it? I don't want to be the cause of anyone else's pain. You understand that, don't you?"

Aigis nodded. "I do," she murmured. "If it is what you wish, I will exchange the seal again."

Shinjiro started to push forward again, and Minako could hear his voice and Elizabeth's cascading over each other to try and reach her.

"You can't leave," Shinjiro was saying. "We haven't had enough time."

"Why?" asked Elizabeth. "I don't understand, don't you want to live? Doesn't every human want to live?"

I want to live, thought Minako. I want to live more than any of you will ever know, but I'll never be able to live with myself if I get life only at the cost of someone else's. I've been doing this for me all along, because I don't have any more right to live than anyone else does, but I also don't have any less. My life, whatever it is, however long I get to live it, should be full and meaningful, not shadowed by the fact that I had to take from someone else in order to get what I have. I can't go on like that. It would never work.

Before she had a chance to try to voice any of those feelings, however, Minako heard Yukari gasp from somewhere in the crowd. She turned to find that all of her friends were now staring at the doorway, although Minako couldn't quit see what it was they were looking at.

"Oh my god," whispered Yukari. "Junpei…"


	33. True Ending - Part Two

**Author's Note: **Remember that time that I said you were the best readers ever? Still true. More true than it was the last time I said it, even.

Okay, so, before we go any farther, please take a second to look over the following disclaimer.

**WARNING: This chapter contains potentially disturbing content, including a scene in which weapons are pointed at small children. **

**Allow me to be perfectly clear. I am a licensed early childhood professional and I do not and will never condone the use of any kind of weapons around or against children. In light of recent events, I considered taking this piece out of the story, but I have instead decided to include it as an example of an entirely fictional, inappropriate and inexcusable act of desperation. I am trusting you to take it only as I have intended it. **

Thank you.

Now, a couple of things happen in this scene that will need to be confirmed in later chapters. Please don't panic if something seems implausible or doesn't make sense yet. There is more to come!

All right. Let's do this.

**The True Ending – Part Two**

The crowd parted slightly, giving Minako her first glimpse of Junpei, who had come rushing into the room with Margaret following closely on his heels. He was saying something, but she couldn't hear him at first over the rumble of the voices that had started open his arrival. Only when Yukari stepped out of the way did Minako finally see what it was that Junpei had clutched in his arms.

"Oh god," she whispered, shaking her head as she began to push forward towards him. "Junpei, no…"

Junpei's face was flushed as though he'd been running, and the set of his jaw was grim and determined, giving him a stony, stoic expression that Minako had always associated with the times that he tried too hard to be a hero. This was, no doubt, one of those times, although for the moment Minako couldn't decided if Junpei was casting himself in the role of hero or villain. Under his arm, struggling against his grip, was Nanako. She stared around at the assembled crowd with big, terrified eyes. With his other arm, Junpei had what looked like a gun pressed up against the base of Nanako's neck.

"What the-?" Shinjiro choked out. Shoving his way through the throng, he walked up right up to Junpei and demanded, "What the hell is this?"

"Just sticking to the plan," grunted Junpei. "Just like we agreed. Things started to look bad, so I got a hostage. Now they have to let her out of it. Let's get Minako and run."

Shinjiro shook his head slowly. "You…that's not what I meant. Shit, she's just a kid. She doesn't belong here."

Junpei shrugged. "What else was I supposed to do? Everybody else just kinda gave up. I had to make a call." Turning to Yosuke, who was now bearing down on Junpei with rage in his eyes, Junpei said, "Look, okay, this doesn't have to take long. Nobody has to get hurt. You let Minako walk out of here, and we go with her. Then I'll let Nanako go. If you don't, then…well, if you take one of mine, I'm gonna take one of yours. So what do you say? Let's forget about this whole resealing thing before anything gets out of control."

Everything, thought Minako, has already gotten way out of control. There was a sickening, horrified feeling in her throat.

"I saw the car leave," Junpei was telling Yosuke. "I knew you'd kidnapped her when I saw you sneaking away from the inn in the middle of the night. You thought nobody saw you, huh? Well, you screwed up. I did. I'm not gonna let you get away with this."

"Kidnapped?" gasped Yukiko. "Oh, no, that's not…"

"You've got it all wrong," snarled Yosuke. "Nobody forced anybody to do anything. She was ready to go. It was her decision to come here in the first place ".

Junpei laughed a mirthless, angry little laugh. "Seriously?" he asked. "You think I don't know? You think she wants to do this? No, I know Minako. She's a girl who wants to live. She's vibrant, and…she's always smiling about things. She'd never just lay down and give up like this, that's not my Mina-tan. If you're not forcing her, then you're guilting her, needling her, making her feel like crap every second until she thinks she wants to do this. She thinks this is 'the best way,' right?" Suddenly, Junpei was looking at Minako. Minako moved her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. "So," finished Junpei, "you're gonna have to let her go. Your people are important to you, right? Well, mine are important to me."

Nanako whimpered against the pressure of Junpei's grip, and Shinjiro stepped forward, closing the gap between him and Junpei. "Knock it off," he muttered. "This isn't what I meant when I said 'hostage.'"

Junpei laughed bitterly. "You and I were supposed to be in this together. I thought you were gonna show up last night to help me, but you never came. Then when I saw the car leaving the inn this morning, I had to act fast, make a quick decision. Guess you're a lover, not a fighter after all." His voice was disappointed and scornful. "I don't care. Maybe you're okay with losing her again, but I'm not."

"Junpei-san," whispered Chie. Junpei turned to look at her, and swallowed hard. "Why?" insisted Chie. "Why Nanako?"

"Because…because you love her," he said, and, just for a moment, the vicious look in his eyes faded away to something more desperate and uncertain. "Because I have to take something you care about if you're gonna get what it feels like to lose someone you love. There's nothing that wrenches your guts the way that feeling does."

"Junpei," whispered Minako, "they already know. That's what this has been about all along; they know what that feels like."

Junpei shook his head. Looking beseechingly at Chie, he muttered, "I never wanted it to come to this."

Shinjiro moved fast. Taking advantage of Junpei's temporary preoccupation with Chie, he hauled back and punched Junpei hard across the jaw. Junpei cried out and went down, releasing both Nanako and the gun as he fell. Nanako stumbled back against Shinjiro, then clung on to one of his legs and began to sniffle and sob into the fabric of his jeans.

Awkwardly, Shinjiro patted Nanako on the top of the head. "It's okay," he murmured. "It's…it's over now." He looked up at Minako as he spoke, and she nodded at him. Pain crawled back into the corners of his eyes, and he looked away.

Minako ran forward and snatched up the gun, turning it over carefully in her hands.

"This isn't a gun," she said. "It's an evoker. It's harmless. He couldn't have shot her. It was an empty threat."

All around, Minako could see people relaxing slightly, although there was still anger and betrayal in the eyes of Yosuke and his friends. Minako could feel the animosity and frustration crackling in the air all around her. Yosuke and his friends were beginning to reach into pockets, some pulling weapons, others holding up persona cards. Seeing this, the members of SEES began holding up their evokers.

Enough is enough, thought Minako. It's time for this nightmare to be over.

As Junpei, still bleeding from his likely broken jaw, tried to scramble to his feet, Minako began walking away from the group, towards the nightmare Tartarus tower, with the spiral staircase. Distinctive footsteps behind her made Minako aware that Aigis had begun following her. Together, they began slowly ascending the steps of the tower.

Just as Minako's feet touched upon the third step, however, she heard Nanako's voice behind her, and looked over her shoulder to see that the girl had broken away from Shinjiro, and was now standing just a few feet away, still looking frightened. "Minako-san…where are you going?" she asked. "Don't go over there…that place looks all dark and scary."

A lump arose in Minako's throat. "You…you'll have to ask Yosuke to take you home," she managed to stammer out. "I'm so sorry about all of this. Just…just try to forget about it, now."

Unable to force a smile, she turned around and headed quickly up the tower steps. The tower hadn't looked very tall from the bottom, but somehow the climb seemed to go on for eons. Minako allowed herself to relax as she walked, listening to her breathing and her heart rate begin to calm down and steady themselves. The higher she and Aigis climbed, the fainter and more distant grew the voices of Minako's friends, until she could barely hear them at all. All she could see, when she looked out carefully over the edge of the staircase, was a sea of faces now all turned up to watch her as she completed the climb.

At the top of the tower, Minako turned to Aigis, who was standing beside her looking slightly lost.

"I'm ready," said Minako quietly. "Create the seal."

Aigis blinked. "I…I cannot do that. In order to perform the resealing process, we would both have to again ascend to the location of the seal itself."

This is my nightmare, thought Minako. The one thing in the universe that I am the most afraid of is the one place that we need to be. How convenient.

Even as those thoughts passed in and out of her mind, a door suddenly appeared right in front of the place where she and Aigis were standing. Aigis took a step back in surprise, and Minako reached out to prevent her from falling back off of the edge of the staircase.

"What," asked Aigis warily, "is through that door?"

"It leads to the seal," said Minako. "All of my nightmares eventually lead to the seal."

Somewhere below her, a remote, barely audible cry made its way up to Minako's ears. She couldn't make out the words, but it wasn't hard for her to imagine what must be happening below.

"I'm sorry, Junpei," she murmured, knowing that they couldn't hear her. "I'm sorry, Shinji, I'm…I'm sorry, everyone. In a few years, hopefully it will be easier to forget again."

Then, reaching out one hand and taking Aigis' arm in the other, Minako prepared to open the door.

"Wait! Stop!" This time, the voice was louder, easier to understand. Minako turned around to see Yosuke running up the spiral staircase, his breath coming in gasps as he rushed forward to meet her.

Minako blinked at him. "Go away," she said. "We're at the end of the line. This is it. Mission accomplished. We already know that there isn't another way."

Shaking his head, Yosuke panted for a moment. "There might be," he insisted. "I…I just thought of something. It's something crazy, but…it kind of makes sense. Hear me out."

Aigis answered before Minako had a chance. Please," she said, nodding. "Explain."

"Okay. So." Yosuke turned to the crowd below, squinting one eye as he tried to scan the faces. "That blond chick…either of them, actually. Do you think they can hear us?"

"We can hear you," said Margaret's voice from somewhere behind Yosuke. As Minako watched, Margaret and Elizabeth both ascended the last few steps to join them outside the door to the seal.

Yosuke blinked, and Minako shrugged. She was entirely finished with being surprised or concerned about anything out of the ordinary that happened around here.

"Um…yeah. Okay, well." Yosuke bit his lip as he began to outline his idea. "You need Minako to make this "seal" thing, right?"

Margaret nodded.  
"So what I'm asking," continued Yosuke, "is does it matter which Minako you use?"

Minako and Aigis both stared at him uncomprehendingly. "I do not understand the question," said Aigis.

Yosuke took a deep breath. "We all have more than one inner self," he explained. "The good part of ourselves, that's the part that we want to accept. The bad part, that's what turns into a persona when we're ready to face it. I had to deal witht hat in the TV world, so did all of the rest of us. So did you," he said, nodding in Minako's direction. "Your shadow self becomes your persona, and together your real self and your shadow self make up the whole you."

Margaret nodded as though this didn't sound strange to her at all. "Yes, correct," she agreed.

"So if Minako's shadow self," Yosuke went on, "Is just as much a part of 'her' as her real self, then…can't her shadow self be the part of her that makes the seal?"

Minako couldn't help but let out an exasperated sigh. Yosuke had been right. That plan was pretty crazy, and even Minako knew exactly why it wouldn't work.

Margaret, as if reading Minako's mind, shook her head. "That would not be possible," she informed Yosuke. "A whole soul, complete with all parts, is necessary for the creation of the seal. The persona, or what you refer to as the 'shadow self' is only one part of the soul, and would thus be insufficient."

Yosuke stood for a moment, apparently lost in thought. Then his face went pale, and Minako watched him swallow carefully before speaking up again.

"But, a whole…" he began hesitantly, "is two things. I mean, two half things make a whole thing. Right?"

Margaret raised an eyebrow at him.

"A part of one soul," he insisted, "and a part of another soul…they would make, pretty much, one soul, wouldn't they?"

"It…is an interesting theory," murmured Margaret. "But you see-!"

"Take mine." Yosuke spat the words out so quickly that even Margaret looked taken aback. "Go on, before I change my mind. Take my shadow self…I mean, the other part. Whichever half of my soul that is, you can have it, okay?" He shut his eyes and clenched his fists, holding his breath as though waiting for a blow.

Minako placed a hand on top of his, and left it there for a moment until Yosuke cautiously opened one eye to look back at her.

"It doesn't work that way, Yosuke," she insisted. "I…you're so brave, but…it can't be anybody else. Only I can form the seal. There are reasons that-!"

Margaret cut her off. "That's correct," she murmured, and Minako could have sworn that there was a hint of regret in Margaret's voice. "Only Minako has sufficient connections and a full complement of social bonds to provide her with the power need to create the seal. Perhaps, relying on that power, she might survive the process of having one part of her soul torn from the other, but you…you could never endure it. It would kill you instantly. There is no one else who can bear this burden for her."

"That's not true," said Elizabeth, speaking up for the first time. All eyes turned to her, and Minako saw that Elizabeth was now staring contemplatively at the door that Minako was sure would lead to location of the seal.

"There's one other person who could survive it," continued Elizabeth. "Actually, after being dead, even having his soul torn apart might be a pleasant change."

Minako heard Yosuke's sharp intake of breath, and saw the abrupt way that Margaret snapped her whole body around to face Elizabeth.

"You can't mean," she began, but Elizabeth interrupted her.

"Of course," she shrugged. "Your beloved Y u Narukami."


	34. True Ending - Part Three

**Author's Note: **Okay, so I lied…by accident. There are actually two chapters left. So, this one and then one more after it. And then an epilogue/preview of the sequel. I think that actually makes three. I think. Maybe only two. It will depend. And then it's really finished, sincerely.

Sometimes it's hard to tell how many pages my stuff is going to take up when I transfer it from the notebook to the screen…I'm not intentionally drawing this out. Honest!

You guys are being so patient with me, I appreciate that. Thank you!

PS: The Eternity arcana card is actually not my invention! It is part of a new/alternative tarot deck available for purchase on the internet. If you're interested, I can tell you more about that later.

Anyway, **WARNING: This chapter contains content that may be disturbing, such as pain, suffering, physical and psychological damage, and a really vicious cliffhanger, even for me. **

Again, you have been warned!

**The True Ending – Part Three**

"No," said Minako, in her firmest, most unyielding tone of voice.

Yosuke didn't seem to hear her. He was staring at Margaret uncertainly, rubbing a nervous hand across the back of his neck.

"But they'll live," he finally said. "You're sure that Yu and Minako couldn't die from this, right?"

"They should both be strong enough to endure the separation," agreed Margaret. "But as I have already stated, the damage could be…"

Yosuke cut her off impatiently. "No more doom and gloom. Tell it to me straight. What's the worst that could happen?"

Margaret sighed. "It is impossible to be certain," she told him. "The removal of the persona will leave an open chasm in the mind, a chasm that will attract the attention of the shadows. They will seek to corrupt that hole, to fill it with all the doubt and suffering that the power of the persona has long staved off."

"We fight shadows all the time," retorted Yosuke. "We've done it before, and we can do it again. What else?"

"There is also," continued Margaret, beginning to look really vexed, "the question of the damage to the rest of the mind. Surrounding parts of the brain could be incalculably injured. As the mind controls the body, any injury to the mind could and likely would have disastrous effect."

Yosuke stared hard at his feet. "But you're sure," he mumbled, for the second time, "that they'd survive."

This time it was Elizabeth who answered. "Of course," she assured him. "We told you that already."

"Yeah, I know," agreed Yosuke, more to himself than to anyone else. "But I have to be sure, right? I can't take any risks with this."

Minako felt something warm and dangerous welling up inside her, something that felt a little too much like hope. Frantically, she forced the feelings as far to the back of her consciousness as she could. "I said no, Yosuke," she told him. "You can't afford to take risks? Haven't you been listening? This whole idea is nothing but risks! What if Yu can't live with what happens? What if you're wrong and he decides that he would rather have-!"

"Then I'll never forgive myself," interrupted Yosuke, with a shrug. "What else am I supposed to do? Just let you walk in there and die?"

"That was the plan," Minako reminded him. "All along, that was the plan. We were going to do 'whatever it takes,' remember? I made you a promise."

"Yeah, well, I'm letting you out of it," said Yosuke. "I'm not a murderer. That's not somebody I ever want to see when I look in the mirror, you know? And you…I don't know. I guess you're the kind of person the world needs more of. It'd be a waste. I don't' think Yu would want you to die. Honestly, he'd probably like you. I'd like to have you meet him one day."

At first, Minako had nothing to say to that. There was nothing left in herself to say. She was emotionally exhausted, desperate to have all of this over with. For so long it had felt as though there could not possibly be any other way out, but…Yosuke was right. It would be a waste to give up now. She'd be wasting herself if she didn't try, wasting the tears that her friends were probably shedding for her right now. As for Narukami…surely, even this would be better than death.

"I'd like that," she told Yosuke. "I hope someday we can make that happen."

They stood there in an odd, almost inappropriate moment of peace in the midst of the chaos. Then,, Yosuke turned to look at Aigis.

"Do it," he told her. "Do the separation thing."

Aigis looked at Minako as though she wanted to argue, but Minako just nodded, and Aigis didn't seem to know what to say. After a reluctant pause, Aigis sighed, and told Minako, "Close your eyes."

Closing her eyes obediently, Minako asked, in what she hoped was a joking tone of voice, "This is going to hurt, isn't it?" She was delighted to hear that none of the rising panic she felt had crept into her speech.

"Yes," said Aigis simply. "It is." Very much."

With her eyes still shut tightly, Minako heard Aigis' slow, preparatory intake of breath. She could hear Elizabeth and Margaret moving around anxiously somewhere nearby. Everything was so still and foreboding that Minako felt her whole body go tense in tortured anticipation as she waited for something horrible to happen.

Yosuke's hand closed around hers, and he gave her hand a quick comforting squeeze.

"Hey, Minako," he began. "I'll see you when the-!"

The pain suddenly erupted in Minako's brain as though her head was being skewered by a white hot poker. Something was ripping and tearing at the corners of her psyche, wrenching through her head until it felt as though she was bleeding out through every crack and crevice of her mind.

Minako screamed. The scream and the pain flowed through her together, until her eyes snapped open and she found herself staring into Yosuke's terrified, stricken face. His mouth was moving, and she knew that he was speaking, but she couldn't understand the words. All that she understood right now as pain.

Then, from the very depths of that same pain came a voice, a voice that was only audible because Minako recognized it as her own. "Don't be afraid," it said. "Don't be afraid."

For just a moment, Izanagi appeared floating just in front of Minako's blurred vision. The persona seemed to twist and change, until somehow it was both Minako's persona and her other self at one and the same time. Minako's own face stared at her from the persona/shadow's eyes, and it spoke to her. "Though I leave you," it said, "I will not forget you. Though I leave you, do not forget me."

Those words, thought Minako, were so similar to the ones that she had said to her shadow, days ago when she'd encountered it in the TV world.

Then, the shadow was gone, and so was the pain. Minako's vision darkened and her whole world went blank and black as she stumbled forward and fell from the edge of the staircase.

**Shortly afterwards, below the tower…**

Yosuke watched Shinjiro tending to Minako, who was still lying, limp and unconscious in a heap. Junpei had caught her before she'd hit the ground, but Yosuke was well aware that a fall from that height could very easily be lethal in itself. It felt like they had been sitting there, gathered around, staring at Minako for hours, or even days, without any indication that she was still alive, other than the shallow rise and fall of her breathing, which was still coming out in little gasps.

There was still no sign of Yu. Yosuke had expected, after Minako fell, to see…well, he honestly wasn't sure what he had expected to see. Perhaps he had thought that Yu would just materialize out of thin air, or would suddenly, without explanation, be lying beside Minako on the ground. Yosuke had waited, impatiently, hopefully, then more and more desperately, while Yu continued not to come.

Now, watching the still form of Minako surrounded by anxious onlookers, Yosuke began to feel as though he'd been betrayed…or maybe as though he'd betrayed his friends. A sinking feeling started in the pit of his stomach, and that feeling was evolving quickly into a panic.

Just as he was beginning to let go of the little hope that he had left, Yosuke heard Yukiko cry out from behind him.

"Oh!" she gasped. "Look! Up on the tower! There's someone there! Is that…? It couldn't be, could it?"

Yosuke jerked his head up to look at the tower. There was a figure standing there, being supported on either side by the two figures of Margaret and Elizabeth. Yosuke couldn't quite make out the face of the figure in the center of the group, but his heart almost dared to leap out of his chest as he hurried forward to get a better look.

"I don't know," muttered Chie, squinting uncertainly up at the tower. "It kinda looks like him…but there's something weird about him. I dunno what it is, but…"

Nanako, who had been seated next to Minako's head, suddenly jumped up and began running for the staircase. Her voice came out in an uncharacteristic shriek as she cried out, "Big Bro! Big Bro!"She, at least, seemed in no doubt about the identity of the man on the tower. If anyone would know for certain, thought Yosuke, Nanako would.

He leapt to his feet, intending to follow behind her, when a heavy hand on his shoulder made him pause. Yosuke spun around impatiently to see the man named Theodore standing behind him, gazing pensively up at the people on the tower.

"Excuse me," murmured Theodore, with creepily cultured politeness. "Can you please tell me; which persona did Yu Narukami use before he died?"

"What?" Yosuke shrugged. "All of them, I guess. I mean, he had that Izanagi-No-Okami near the end. That was probably his most powerful one."

Theodore nodded. "Interesting," he murmured. "And Minako until recently had obtained the persona Izanagi. Izanagi, the beginning of the journey, and Izanagi-No-Okami, the end of the journey. So that must be why."

Yosuke didn't want to ask the question. He wanted to be running as fast as he could to Nanako's side right now, anxious to see if she was right about the person on the stairs. For some reason, however, he couldn't break away from Theodore. There was a look on Theodore's face that compelled him to ask, "What's why? Why what?"

"Look." Theodore gestured at the top of the tower. "The seal."

Yosuke followed Theodore's gaze, and noticed, now that the figures had moved aside, that the doorway was filled with a startling swirl of multi-colored light. The light seemed to be in perpetual, ceaseless motion, with every shade and facet of the colors glinting momentarily, and then vanishing and being replaced again.

"The Eternity Arcana," explained Theodore. "It is the endless cycle of life and death, born from the fusion of the beginning and the end of the journey. I have only ever heard stories before…I have never truly seen it. It is beautiful."

Yosuke, however, no longer cared. By now, he could see the faces of the figures on the stairs, and the one in the center was, without a shadow of a doubt, the face of his best friend. Yosuke began to run.

"Yu," he shouted, waving his arms and jumping up and down as he rushed towards the staircase. "Partner, it's me!" He was aware that his eyes were full of tears, but for the first time that didn't seem to matter.

Finally reaching the tower, Yosuke met Yu, Margaret, Elizabeth, and now Nanako at the bottom. The broad, ecstatically welcoming smile on Yosuke's face faded away almost instantly he saw the pain etched into the corners of Yu's eyes.

"What's wrong?" he demanded. "What happened to him?"

Yu gave Yosuke a shaky, exhausted smile. "At least," he managed breathlessly, "it doesn't hurt."

"What doesn't hurt?" insisted Yosuke, his voice rising a little bit in his growing panic.

Margaret gave Elizabeth an exasperated look.

"I warned you," she told Yosuke. "I explained the possibility of severe brain damage."

"I can't feel my legs," gasped Yu. Then, as Margaret and Elizabeth released him, he fell forward into Yosuke's arms.


	35. True Ending - Part Four

**Author's Note: **Ohdear…this is very embarrassing. I am so sorry about not updating last night. I actually was sitting at my computer with the update half typed when I…apparently fell asleep. I woke up not too long ago with the computer sitting next to me on the bed, and with this document still open.

…I have no reasonable excuses. I must be getting old.

All right, so, this is the last chapter before we get to the epilogue, which I'll post within the next couple of hours. There will be two more endings, the bad and the normal, posted over the course of the next few days, although be warned, there is some overlap between those endings and this one. Still, I'll post the whole thing so that it's easier to follow.

**WARNING: **I confess freely and fully that I am visually impaired, and that I spent a year legally blind due to brain damage after a car accident right before college. I'm fine, it doesn't hurt, yada yada. The ONLY reason that I say this is that you may want to reconsider before messaging me anything like "That could never happen like that," or "blindness is a stupid plot point." Honestly, I am only trying to avoid any unnecessary embarrassment on either of our parts.

**The True Ending – Part Four**

Minako opened her eyes in darkness. At least, she thought she did. For some reason, although she felt her eyelids open, everything around her remained blank and black. The darkness stayed pressed around her like a blanket, unfamiliar, disconcerting, but not unwelcome. At least the pain seemed to have mostly receded. All that was left now was a dull, persistent throb that seemed to be everywhere in Minako's head at once.

"Minako," gasped Shinjiro, from somewhere very close to Minako's face. She could hear his rapid breathing as his arms wrapped around her and folded her against his chest. His skin was cold and sweaty to the touch, and Minako could hear the beating of his heart against the side of her face.

"You're alive," he mumbled. "Shit, you…" He took a deep breath. "D-don't ever scare me like that again. You hear me?"

Minako reached up until she felt her fingers brush against his face. They came away wet. "You're crying," she said.

Shinjiro choked out a laugh. "Yeah," he said, clearing his throat. "I told you, you do this crazy stuff to me. I haven't cried like this since I was a kid."

"Don't cry," Minako said. "I'm all right." Instinctively, she went to kiss him, but found that he'd shifted position. Her face bumped against his shoulder as she aimed for his mouth, and she sat back, rubbing her jaw where she'd collided with him.

"What was that?" asked Shinjiro, some of the relief fading out of his voice.

"I…I can't see," Minako admitted. "Everything's dark. I don't know where you are."

She heard Shinjiro's slow intake of breath, and felt him move against her. Suddenly and irrationally worried that he'd leave her, she clutched at his arms, and he squeezed her comfortingly, planting a rough but reassuring kiss on her forehead. "I'm right here," he told her. "It's okay. I've got you." Despite his words, his voice sounded strained. "You're alive. That's what 's important."

But, thought Minako, I'm blind, aren't I? The more she thought about it, the harder she found it to stay calm. Was this permanent? Would it fade over time? Desperately, she tried to remember exactly what Margaret had said about the kind of injuries that could come from separating the soul.

"I love you," said Shinjiro abruptly, cutting through Minako's panicky reflections.

"What?" asked Minako, caught totally off guard.

"I said," repeated Shinjiro, with just the slightest hint of embarrassment creeping into his voice, "I love you. That's what you wanted, isn't it? I thought you wanted me to say it."

"I…I did. I mean, I do. I love you too." Minako wished that she could see him. "It's just…I guess…I already knew."

"Wha-?" Shinjiro sounded flustered. "Of course you knew. I wanted you to know. So why did you…ugh." With an exasperated sigh, he said, "I thought it was important to you to hear me say it."

"I thought so too," insisted Minako. "I guess I didn't really need it. You've…you've always been good at proving it to me…especially last night." She reached up to grope again for Shinjiro's face, and felt how much warmer the skin of his cheek had grown after the last comment she'd made.

"You're impossible," growled Shinjiro. Then, in a lower, more serious tone of voice, he muttered, "Don't ever try a stunt like that again. I don't care what you think you have to do or why. I'll tell you I love you every day until you're sick as shit of the sound of my voice, if it means you won't try to leave. Understand?"

Minako let Shinjiro help her carefully to her feet. "Don't' worry," she promised him. "I'm done leaving. I'm not going anywhere now."

Shinjiro began to cough, and Minako waited, holding on to him with one arm, until the fit subsided. "You sound terrible," she said. "All of this was probably awful for you. I'm sure you're worse off now than you were."

He snorted out a laugh. "Like you should talk. Least I can still see."

Minako felt a pang go through her as soon as he said it, and the way his arm tightened around her waist informed her that he knew he'd screwed up.

"Sorry," he muttered. "That was stupid. I didn't mean it like that."

"No," said Minako, shaking her head. "No, I think you'd better make fun of it. I'm…if I'm blind, then….is that forever? I don't know what any of this means. It's not going to sink in. It's frightening, so…laugh at me. At least that'll make me feel a little bit more real and alive."

The word 'alive' brought something back into Minako's mind, and she suddenly forgot all about trying to force herself to smile. "Wait," she asked, "where's Yosuke? Where's Narukami? Did he make it?"

By way of an answer, Shinjiro took her by the shoulders and gently turned her around, guiding her forward a few paces until she could hear Yosuke's voice.

"And then," he was saying animatedly, "there was this totally crazy giant teddy bear. It looked just like some of those weird, creepy plushies that Kanji makes for his mom's store."

"Hey!" interjected Kanji's voice, sounding indignant. "My stuff's not creepy. It's cute. Right, Yu-senpai?"

"Yeah, of course it is," agreed a masculine voice that Minako didn't recognize. "But…Yosuke's right. Cute or not, a giant teddy bear would definitely be scary."

Breaking away from Shinjiro, Minako rushed forward. Misjudging how far away the voices were, she ended up plowing straight into Yosuke, who caught her and steadied her as she flailed around to regain her footing.

"Whoa!" he said. "Slow down, you're gonna hurt somebody." When Minako had sorted herself out, she heard him add, "So, you're awake. That's awesome. We were…kinda worried. No, we were really worried. Hey, everybody! Look, Minako's awake!"

Bodies began to press in around Minako on all sides, and she could feel hands clapping her on the back and reaching out to hold on to her. Uncertain which direction to turn, she called out in a voice that sounded more panicked than she'd intended, "Wait! Yosuke, where's Narukami? Is he okay? What happened to him?"

"Come on, give her some space," demanded the unfamiliar masculine voice. Slowly, the area around Minako freed up again. "Yosuke," continued the voice, " something's wrong. Look at her eyes."

"Huh?" There was a pause, before Yosuke muttered, "Yeah, wow…hey, Minako, look at me. No, at me. Dude, I'm right here."

Minako tried. She gazed over in the direction that his voice seemed to be coming from.

The unfamiliar male voice spoke again. "Leave her alone, we're just confusing her. Hey, Minako? I'm going to touch your shoulders, okay?"

"Who are you?" asked Minako.

"Oh." The hint of a smile came into the unfamiliar voice. "I'm sorry. My name's Narukami. It's nice to meet you. Hey, Yosuke, Kanji, can you push me over to Minako? Thanks."

There was the sound of something sliding against the carpeted floor, and then Narukami's hands came down on Minako's shoulders. She could feel his breath as he leaned in closer to her, apparently looking right into her face. Self consciously, she averted her eyes, even if the gesture was, at this point, an empty one.

"I'm sorry," muttered Narukami after a moment. "This happened because of me."

"Huh? What happened?" asked Yosuke.

Minako felt that it was time for her take control of the situation again. "I can't see anymore," she announced, sounding much more confident than she felt. "I…I think it's an effect of the separation."

Silence echoed around her. "No way," whispered Yosuke finally. "Wait, seriously? You can't see at all? How many fingers am I holding up?"

Minako had no idea, and she did her best to glare in the direction of his voice.

"Cut it out," muttered Shinjiro. "Can't you see she's having a hard time? There's nothing else to see here."

"An eye for an eye," said Yosuke, contemplatively. "It's like you said, after all. That's not what I wanted, but…"

"What do you mean?" demanded Minako.

"We've both lost something," said Narukami quietly. "I…don't' think I can walk anymore. Couldn't tell you why, so I won't try, but…at least we're both alive, right? I have you to thank for that."

"You have me to thank for being dead in the first place," Minako reminded him. "Anyway, it's more like 'an eye for a leg' than 'an eye for an eye,' isn't it?"

Nobody said anything for a moment. Then Narukami started to laugh.

"Yosuke's right," he said. "I think we're gonna get along great."

"Dude," Yosuke sounded surprised. "If I had said something like that you'd be all like 'this isn't the right time,' or something. How come Minako gets away with it?"

Minako tried glaring at him again.

"Okay, okay," she heard him say. "Geez, I think you being blind only makes it worse when you look at me like that…now I can't tell what you're thinking. That's…that's even scarier."

Again, the bodies began to cluster in around her, asking questions, making demands, reaching out to touch. It was alarming and unfamiliar, but Minako slowly tried to identify the voices of each of her friends. Junpei was there, hopefully recovered from the blow Shinjiro had given him to the face. Yukari kept talking over him, trying to get a word in. Akihiko was there, and so were Ken, Mitsuru, and Fuuka. Minako even thought that she could hear Kanji and Naoto chatting somewhere next to her left shoulder, and was delighted to realize that everyone who had entered the Velvet Room that morning seemed to have made it out alive. Not intact, she reminded herself. Not all in one piece, but everyone was alive.

There was one voice, however, that Minako hadn't heard. Against her better judgment, she started moving off in the direction that seemed to be away from all the voices. "Aigis?" she called out as she went. "Aigis, where are you?"

"I am here," said Aigis, and Minako heard the mechanical motion of Aigis coming to meet her. "Minako-san…I am so glad to see that the damage was minimal."

This, thought Minako, is minimal? "Yeah," she said instead, "trust me…so am I. So…I guess it's over now. It was bad, we were hit hard, but…the worst is over, and now we can relax." It would be the first time, she thought, that she'd be able to relax since coming to Iwatodai so many years before.

"I'm afraid that's incorrect," said Theodore's voice, from somewhere behind Aigis. "The worst, it seems, may still be to come."

Minako was tired. "The worst of what?" she asked, sighing.

"Do you remember what I said about the void in your mind?" asked Margaret, unexpectedly. Minako hadn't even known she was there. Idly, Minako wondered whether Elizabeth was hanging around somewhere very close by as well. "I told you," continued Margaret, "that the place where the persona once resided will now be a gap in the fabric of your mind that will attract the shadows. Where once you had the power to fight off the despair and distress that plagues the rest of humanity, now you will have a new battle to fight for the sanctity of your mind. The darkness will try to creep in, to overcome you. You must be on your guard at all times."

"Well," muttered Minako, not sure if she was being sarcastic or not, "I always love a good battle.""

"But this time," insisted Margaret gravely, "You will fight your mind without the use of your persona. You will fight alone."

"Forgive me," murmured Aigis, "but that cannot be true. Minako-san will never fight alone. I will always be by her side."

"Yeah, and don't forget about me," said Junpei. Minako turned to look in the direction that his comment had come from.

"I'm not going anywhere," growled Shinjiro, placing one arm around Minako's waist. "Fighting's what I do, anyway. Right, Aki?"

"Yeah," said Akihiko. "I mean, that is, if you think you can keep up with me, Shinji."

Slowly, one by one, each of Minako's friends added their voices to the growing litany of affirmations and promises of help. They were all around her, surrounding her, and although she couldn't immediately find them, Minako felt safer just knowing that they were somewhere by her side.

Finally, Minako heard the sound of something being shoved along the carpet, and then Narukami's voice was in her ear. "I'm sure that this will be a long road for both of us," he said. "Let's take it on together."

Together, thought Minako. What a nice change that would be from competing to see who had the right to live.

"Looking forward to working with you, Mr. Narukami," she told him, as a smile started to spread slowly across her face.

Narukami chuckled. "Call me Yu," he insisted. "We may not know each other too well, but…I have a feeling that we will pretty soon."

"Ugh, let's get out of here," said Yosuke. "I've had enough of this place for this one day."


	36. Epilogue

**Epilogue – Six months later, in the Velvet Room**

Nanako stared around her with her mouth slightly open in surprise. The first time that she'd passed through here, she'd been essentially the victim of a kidnapping, and it hadn't occurred to her to look around and take in her surroundings. Was this place…a car? It looked a little like a car. It was…well, obviously moving, like a car, although Nanako couldn't really explain how she knew that it was moving. It was hard to believe that it was a car because the room was just so elegant. Cars, especially her dad's car, were usually full of junk and old, illegible documents that she no longer bothered to try and understand. This place was so pristine that it shone.

In the center of the room sat a man. Nanako had to admit to herself that he was very ugly, with a long, horrible hooked nose and large eyes that didn't seem to have to blink. She shouldn't, she reminded herself, ever think of someone as ugly. Her teacher did not like it when other students in the classroom called each other ugly. Everyone, she knew, had something beautiful about them, probably even this man.

"Welcome," he intoned, in a deep voice that didn't add at all to his appeal, "to the Velvet Room."

"Um," murumured Nanako, trying not to sound frightened, "th-thank you. Who are you?" Uh oh, she thought. That had been rude. She had to make sure not to be rude, especially to adults. "I mean," she added quickly, "uh, I'm Nanako Dojima. It's nice to meet you."

"My name is Igor," said the man who's name, apparently, was Igor. "You have been here before, Nanako Dojima. While once you came her in the flesh, I have summoned you, this time, within your dreams, to assist you in awakening to your new power."

"New power?" asked Nanako, puzzled.

"Yes," insisted Igor. "The power of persona. You are about to begin a journey, a journey to protect the future and the present of the ones that hold most dear. For that reason, you will require the aid of persona, as well as that of myself, and of my assistants."

Igor pointed to three chairs beside him, and Nanako saw that each of the chairs contained a stoic looking blond-haired individual. Two were women, one of whom was clearly lightly older than the other. The third was a man. Nanako had seen these people before, she knew, although she couldn't remember their names.

"Nice to meet you," she said to them dutifully. "Um…excuse me, but what's a persona?"

The slightly older blond woman stood gracefully up from her chair. Looking on her with the eyes of a self conscious eight year old girl, Nanako thought that she was beautiful.

"Allow me," said the woman, "to show you."

**Author's Note: **What? The author's note is at the bottom of the page, now? Yeah, I'm shaking things up a little. Wouldn't want you to get bored!

Anyway, that's the end of that story. But wait, you say! There are so many things that are still unexplained! So many questions that I still have about who, what, where, when, and why! Worry not! All (or at least, a great deal) will be revealed in the sequel, which will be called **Bondswoman**, and will begin sometime next week.

This has been really fun for me, and I hope that you are enjoying it as much if not more than I am!


	37. Bad Ending

**Author's Note: **So, here's the Bad Ending. It is, for reasons that will soon become obvious, SIGNIFICANTLY SHORTER than the True Ending.

WARNING: Disturbing content including children held at gunpoint, and character death.

**The Bad Ending**

The crowd parted slightly, giving Minako her first glimpse of Junpei, who had come rushing into the room with Margaret following closely on his heels. He was saying something, but she couldn't hear him at first over the rumble of the voices that had started open his arrival. Only when Yukari stepped out of the way did Minako finally see what it was that Junpei had clutched in his arms.

"Oh god," she whispered, shaking her head as she began to push forward towards him. "Junpei, no…"

Junpei's face was flushed as though he'd been running, and the set of his jaw was grim and determined, giving him a stony, stoic expression that Minako had always associated with the times that he tried too hard to be a hero. This was, no doubt, one of those times, although for the moment Minako couldn't decided if Junpei was casting himself in the role of hero or villain. Under his arm, struggling against his grip, was Nanako. She stared around at the assembled crowd with big, terrified eyes. With his other arm, Junpei had what looked like a gun pressed up against the base of Nanako's neck.

"What the-?" Shinjiro choked out. Shoving his way through the throng, he walked up right up to Junpei and demanded, "What the hell is this?"

"Just sticking to the plan," grunted Junpei. "Just like we agreed. Things started to look bad, so I got a hostage. Now they have to let her out of it. Let's get Minako and run."

Shinjiro shook his head slowly. "You…that's not what I meant. Shit, she's just a kid. She doesn't belong here."

Junpei shrugged. "What else was I supposed to do? Everybody else just kinda gave up. I had to make a call." Turning to Yosuke, who was now bearing down on Junpei with rage in his eyes, Junpei said, "Look, okay, this doesn't have to take long. Nobody has to get hurt. You let Minako walk out of here, and we go with her. Then I'll let Nanako go. If you don't, then…well, if you take one of mine, I'm gonna take one of yours. So what do you say? Let's forget about this whole resealing thing before anything gets out of control."

Everything, thought Minako, has already gotten way out of control. There was a sickening, horrified feeling in her throat.

"I saw the car leave," Junpei was telling Yosuke. "I knew you'd kidnapped her when I saw you sneaking away from the inn in the middle of the night. You thought nobody saw you, huh? Well, you screwed up. I did. I'm not gonna let you get away with this."

"Kidnapped?" gasped Yukiko. "Oh, no, that's not…"

"You've got it all wrong," snarled Yosuke. "Nobody forced anybody to do anything. She was ready to go. It was her decision to come here in the first place ".

Junpei laughed a mirthless, angry little laugh. "Seriously?" he asked. "You think I don't know? You think she wants to do this? No, I know Minako. She's a girl who wants to live. She's vibrant, and…she's always smiling about things. She'd never just lay down and give up like this, that's not my Mina-tan. If you're not forcing her, then you're guilting her, needling her, making her feel like crap every second until she thinks she wants to do this. She thinks this is 'the best way,' right?" Suddenly, Junpei was looking at Minako. Minako moved her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. "So," finished Junpei, "you're gonna have to let her go. Your people are important to you, right? Well, mine are important to me."

Nanako whimpered against the pressure of Junpei's grip, and Shinjiro stepped forward, closing the gap between him and Junpei. "Knock it off," he muttered. "This isn't what I meant when I said 'hostage.'"

Junpei laughed bitterly. "You and I were supposed to be in this together. I thought you were gonna show up last night to help me, but you never came. Then when I saw the car leaving the inn this morning, I had to act fast, make a quick decision. Guess you're a lover, not a fighter after all." His voice was disappointed and scornful. "I don't care. Maybe you're okay with losing her again, but I'm not."

"Junpei-san," whispered Chie. Junpei turned to look at her, and swallowed hard. "Why?" insisted Chie. "Why Nanako?"

Junpei turned his head to look at Chie. "It's got nothing to do with Nanako," he began. "It's because-!"

Bang. Minako heard the gun go off before she saw anyone move. Junpei dropped to the ground, releasing Nanako and his gun at the same moment. Nanako, shrieking, ran over to Yosuke and grabbed on to him, burying her face in his leg.

In the aftermath of the shot, the room stood achingly still. Minako could see the blood gushing out of the wound in Junpei's side, as well as the still warm, smoking gun clutched in Naoto's hand.

"I…" began Naoto, "I had to…" Far from her usual, composed self, she looked shaken and distressed. "S-self defense. He had a gun."

Minako shoved through the throng to Junpei's side, tearing off the sleeve of her uniform to press it against the wound. "Junpei," she murmured urgently, "Junpei, hang in there. We're going to get you out of here."

"Nah…" Junpei's voice came out in a tortured rasp. "I don't…" Wincing, he clutched at his side, relaxing only slightly when Minako grabbed his hand with her free one and held it tightly. "Shit, it hurts so bad…"

All around them, the murmurs began. Minako didn't look away from Junpei's face, but she could imagine the expressions on the faces of both her friends, and Yosuke's friends. The murmurs grew louder, voices got raised, and hands began to fly to persona cards or to weapons that were still hung on belts or sticking out of pockets.

As Minako pressed as hard as she could against the still bleeding wound, Shinjiro knelt down next to her to pick up the gun that Junpei had dropped. He held it up, examined it for a moment, and then scowled at it. "It's an evoker," he muttered. "Not a real gun. He wasn't gonna shoot her. Couldn't have."

"How…how was I supposed to know?" whispered Naoto, who now sounded more like a frightened little girl than a confident capable young woman. "Nanako-chan was in danger. I did what I felt must be done. Any of you would-!"

Junpei rolled over and let out a groan of pain that made something in Minako's heart constrict. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I mean, about that little girl…I just…you gotta stay, Mina-tan. You can't leave…again."

"I'm not going anywhere," Minako insisted, desperate tears beginning to well up in her eyes. "I'm right here, and we're gonna patch you up and get you home, and then-!"

"Crap," muttered Junpei, his face contorting into spasm of pain. "I don't wanna die."

Then his body relaxed. Minako shoved helplessly at the wound as she watched his breathing come to an abrupt, sickening end. "Junpei," she called, "Junpei, please. It's not fair, I promised you I wouldn't go. That means you have to stay too. You have to stay with me! Please, Junpei!" Her voice rose as she called his name, and she knew that she was sobbing, screaming, talking to someone who wasn't there and wouldn't ever be able to hear her. Nothing rational mattered or made sense right now. She took him by the shoulders and shook him once, before Shinjiro reached down and managed to pry her away from the body that had once been her best friend.

"Minako-chan," said Yosuke. Slowly, painfully, she raised her eyes to meet his.

Her mind was full of emptiness and nothing. All that she could feel was a white-hot hatred, a rage and a betrayal that flowed through her and heated every inch of her blood. After everything that she had done, after all of the promises that she had made, it didn't matter. They'd taken her best friend away from her, someone who had only ever wanted to protect her from herself. Yosuke's best friend, he mattered, but Minako's…he was just collateral.

"We're done here," she bit out. "Let's go."

Turning on her heel, oblivious to everything but the pain and the anger, Minako began to walk forward out of the room. Behind her, she could hear footsteps running to catch up.

"Wait, Minako!" shouted Yosuke. "But what…what about the seal?"

Minako laughed. It was a harsh laugh, a mirthless laugh, a laugh that she'd never heard come out of her lips before. "What about it?" she asked.

Behind her, she listened the sound of her friends readying their weapons for the attack. Drawing her own naginata, she turned on her heel and stared into Yosuke's suddenly desperate eyes.


End file.
